Broken Soul
by MaxFic
Summary: Naruto's spirit has broken.  He hopes that he can be healed it he tries it all over again, but will he just end up broken once more.  NaruHina
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of the characters created by Kishimoto-sensei.

I would never have thought of myself ever being a broken soul. I was always strong, I always resisted the anger and hatred those people threw at me. I was always trying my hardest to be better, to improve, and most importantly to prove my worth. More than anything though I always tried my hardest to protect them no matter how they treated me in return. But as with all things, time will take its toll on the strongest mountain or building.

Sakura, a girl I thought I loved. She meant everything to me and I would have died to protect her. Hell, I even came close to dieing a few times to save her life. I beat Haku, something her precious Uchiha couldn't do. I protected her and the Uchiha-bastard from that Snake freak when that Uchiha bastard was too afraid to fight back. I saved her from Gaara after Sasuke failed to save her. I got a hand put through my chest by that Uchiha bastard when I was trying to bring him back for her, just to make her happy. And not one time did she ever say thank you, not one time did she spare me a second glance.

Kakashi-sensei, a man I thought would teach me and treat me fairly. I respected him. He is an amazing ninja even still. He taught that Uchiha bastard anything that he wanted to know whenever he asked. He gave the Uchiha bastard a Taijutsu style that he had never once worked a day in his life to learn. He taught the Uchiha bastard an assassination technique that was later used in an attempt to kill me. I asked him many times to teach me something, anything that would help to become better. He did teach me something though; he taught me that there is no such thing as unbiased.

The Uchiha bastard, I won't even call him by his first name, to me he is no better than his older brother that is his only ambition is to kill. I once thought so highly of him. I aspired to become better than him or at the very least become his equal. Every time I did something that he could not he scoffed at me and called me 'dead-last'. Every time I surpassed him, he hated me for it instead of congratulating me for it. And even now, when he has betrayed us all, it is still him, the last of the 'oh so precious' Uchiha that is still receiving praise from the village.

Why must these people who are so important to me continually disappoint me? Why must all of these awful things continue to befall me?

So finally I turn to the one thing that is mine and mine alone to control, my own fate.

"Kyubi!" Naruto yelled at the top of his lungs as he walked confidently toward the cell that imprisoned the demon. "Kyubi!"

"**What do you want brat?**" asked the clearly annoyed fox-demon.

"You know about my situation? You've seen everything though my eyes?" he asked.

"**Yes, what of it? What do you want from me**?"

"What you change about it? Can it be changed?" asked Naruto angrily.

"**First, I would not be imprisoned in here**," said the Kyubi angrily.

"Well that's not an option, so tell me, what can I do to change it?" demanded Naruto.

"**Interesting**," said Kyubi pacing before his cage, "**First, I would have embarrassed that Uchiha bastard at every occasion possible from the first moment you met. If he wishes to hate you, hate him back, it has always worked for me. Second, I would have found a teacher if the one assigned was unwilling to teach you. Third, I would have dropped that useless female and sought out one that would bare you strong pups. Forth, I would have never stooped to pranking those pesky villagers, they are a waste of time and the attention they give you is not the attention you want. Fifth, I would actually spend time reading and expanding more than just my Jutsu library. Sixth, I would demand access to your father's Jutsu and title. Seventh, I would take advantage of the seven thousand year old demon sealed inside of me for more than just the occasional Chakra boost. Eighth, I would find my own Taijutsu style unique to my build. Ninth, I would find a weapon that works for me beyond the common kunai and shuriken. Tenth, I would never be caught dead wearing such bright colors**."

Naruto considered Kyubi's thoughts for a moment, "First, there is nothing I can do about the Uchiha bastard now that he's gone. Second, I've got Ero-Sennin now. Third, is there such a female in this village? Forth, I haven't pranked the village since I became a Genin and I don't care about there attention anymore now that I've got Tsunade-nechan, Shizune-nechan, Ero-Sennin, and Iruka-sensei. Fifth, what should I read? Sixth, who the hell was my father? Seventh, why would you want to help me? Eighth, who could teach me? Ninth, why? Tenth, you brightly colored and stick out like a sore thumb, who are you to criticize me on my appearance?"

Kyubi smiled, or at least it looked like a smile. "**I have something in mind but let me answer your questions first. Ero-Sennin was not here for you in your youth when you need someone to start teaching you. There are many such females, you just have to find one or two. You should read books on strategy, mathematics, history, negotiation, and Psychology. You should ask the Third who your father was. If I were to help you I would want something in return. That freak Maito Gai knows hundreds of Taijutsu styles. Weapons are like personalities, they each tell you something about the user and many times act as an extension of that person's body. Take my tails for example; I use them like whips to draw in my enemies before my claws shred their bodies to pieces. The reason I can be brightly colored and you can't is because I'm big enough and strong enough to kick the ass of any challenger I might come across**."

"I can't change the past, but I can use that information for the future," said Naruto, "Thanks letting me use your seven thousand years of experience you dumb-bastard."

"**Who says you can't change the past?**" asked Kyubi with a chuckle.

"What are you talking about?" asked Naruto.

"**If, and this is a big if, I were to give you a way to travel back in time to relive parts of your life what would you give to me in return?**" asked Kyubi.

"What do you want exactly?"

"**What I want is freedom but you'll not grant me that. So instead I will settle for a bit of change of scenery. One, this place is a filth hole not worthy of one like me so I want you to change it. Two, I want a window to the outside world so that I can see what you see, think of it like a big TV connected to your eyes. Three, if that Uchiha bastard tries to flee again, I want you to kill him. But most importantly, the Akatsuki wishes to possess me for whatever reason, this is simply unacceptable, so part of this deal includes the extermination of all there members. Any questions?**"

"How do I clean this place up and how do I give you a window?" asked Naruto. Naruto had already decided that if he went back in time he would kill Sasuke if the opportunity ever arose along with exterminating the Akatsuki so that was no big deal for him.

"**Creating a window just requires you add a second seal to the gate and I can tell you how but it won't do any good until you've actually gone back in time. To clean this place you need to get yourself into a healthier state of mind. The last few months this place has brightened up with the acceptance of that big-breasted woman and that super pervert. This means we need you to focus on people who are going to acknowledge you and ignore those who don't. So, do we have a deal?**" asked Kyubi.

"Will it hurt?" asked Naruto.

"**Me, not in the slightest. You, more pain than you've ever imagined possible**," said Kyubi with a light laugh.

"How fun?" said Naruto sarcastically, "So, how far back will you send me?"

"**How old were you when you entered the Academy**?"

"Six," said Naruto.

"**Then Six is where we'll go back to," said Kyubi, "I'm sure you could pass the Genin exam on your arrival to the academy, but don't. Excel in your classes and embarrass the Uchiha bastard, but don't even think about taking the exam until I say it is okay. Now, do we have a deal**?"

"Deal, show me what to do," said Naruto.

**BREAK**

"Kyubi, you really are a sadistic bastard," said Naruto as he woke up after completing the ceremony. Naruto hoped that everything had worked out like it was supposed to and that was six again. Naruto stood up and checked himself over in the mirror. He was definitely short again, well, shorter anyway. He checked his closets and saw no sign of his infamous orange jump suit, which he didn't purchase until he was in his third year at the academy. Next he checked the calendar and there circled in red was the note for him to start the academy that day.

"Well, the fox got it right after all," said Naruto to himself. Then he checked the clock, "Shit, I'm going to be late for my first day at the academy." Naruto ran about his apartment getting dressed and packing a few cup ramen to eat for lunch along with a notebook and pencil.

Naruto hurried through the streets as fast as his shorter legs would carry him. He realized several things on that run. First, that he had to completely retrain his body to access and use chakra. Second, he was really out of shape. And third, he needed new shoes.

Naruto arrived a few minutes late.

"Sorry, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to be late," said Naruto to the instructor, or rather junior instructor Iruka.

Iruka glared at Naruto the same way that so many adults glared at him. Naruto couldn't remember exactly when Iruka stopped glaring at him and instead saw him and not the demon contained within. "Hurry up and sit down."

Naruto nodded and hurried to his seat. Per Kyubi's instructions he sat the middle row. Part of the reason was to properly teach Naruto to gather information from others, in other words, to teach him to properly cheat.

Naruto was singled out by Iruka several times to answer questions that even most Chuunin wouldn't know. He answered the ones he could but for the most part he had no idea.

"_I can't remember Iruka-sensei being so mean before_," said Naruto to the Kyubi in his head.

"**Don't worry, he'll change soon enough,**" said Kyubi in response.

Naruto now remembered why he hated the first year of Academy. They never did anything. It was all theory and strategy. There was nothing about the actual job. They didn't learn to throw kunai or shuriken. They didn't learn anything about Chakra. They didn't learn anything applicable other than strategy.

Finally, class ended for the day and Naruto was only too happy to get out of their and start his other training.

"_So, what should I do first_?" asked Naruto to the fox.

"**Find that freak Gai**," said Kyubi trying to suppress a shudder.

So Naruto set off to find him. He remembered that Gai could usually be found in training area eighteen with Rock Lee training against wooden stumps. That was exactly where Naruto found him and not surprising, there was a young Rock Lee right beside him training his very hardest. At first he almost didn't recognize Lee without the bowl-cut hair, but his large eyebrow and freak eyelashes were there nonetheless.

"Excuse me," said Naruto cautiously approaching the field. He wasn't sure how Gai would react to Konoha's hated Demon child.

Gai stopped and looked to the source of the voice, "What's this? The passion of youth has led another young disciple to my tender care!" Naruto did everything he could to suppress the shudder that was trying to escape.

"Sir, I heard the Jounin in the village saying that you and someone named Kakashi were rivals. They said that Kakashi was better at Taijutsu than you but he wouldn't teach anyone. So I thought that maybe you could teach me a little," said Naruto playing off of Gai's one and only weakness, his rivalry with Kakashi

"Who would say such things? I'll have you know that I am Konoha's Green Beast, the ultimate Taijutsu Master. Kakashi could never teach you as I could," said Gai strongly.

"So you'll teach me," said Naruto excitedly knowing he had Gai trapped.

"Of course, you shall join me and my other apprentice in training. Our youthful passion shall shine like a beacon to all of Konoha," said Gai in his nice-guy pose.

"Thank you, thank you so much," said Naruto bowing gratefully.

"Now, punch this log 100 times with each arm, and if you can't do that you'll kick this log 100 times with each leg and if you can't do that you'll run around this clearing 100 times," said Gai patting the top of the log next to him. That put Gai in the middle and Naruto and Lee on each side of him.

Naruto had a few choice words for Kyubi but decided to restrain himself.

It was few weeks later that Gai, Naruto and Lee all had a talk about there progress. Naruto was surprised by how intelligent and serious Gai sounded.

"Naruto and Lee," said Gai, "I am very proud of the progress you have both made. I have now had a chance to evaluate your body types and physical capabilities."

"Lee, you are very lacking in Chakra and I doubt you will ever be able to use Ninjutsu or Genjutsu beyond Genin Level. So I will teach in a forbidden Taijutsu style that allows you to fight harder, faster, longer, and utilized the Chakra you do have to its fullest extent. However, I warn you now that this is dangerous."

"I will do whatever you say Gai-sensei, I will learn this style as best as I can and make you proud of me. If this is the only way for me to become a ninja then I will do it," said Lee a bit too enthusiastically for Naruto's taste.

"Naruto, you have an enormous stamina and an even larger chakra capacity than any I have ever seen at your age. With the right training your capacity will continue to grow exponentially. This means that I can train your for a Taijutsu style that relies heavily on using lots of chakra. However, you body is small and you do not have a very long reach. For that reason you will have to move as fast as Yondaime Hokage was famous for. You will also have to have power to eliminate your opponent in only a few hits. This will require extreme dedication on your part. I'm not going to lie to you, it will be more intense training than Lee will have to go through," explained Lee.

"Is it Yondaime Hokage's Taijutsu style?" asked Naruto.

"Indeed it is. Not many use the style because it drains so much Chakra to use it. So even Sharingan users would struggle to use the style even if they can copy it," explained Gai.

"I'll do it, whatever it takes," said Naruto.

"Gai-sensei?" questioned Lee.

"Yes Lee," said Gai.

"Sensei, is Naruto-kun's Taijutsu stronger than what you will teach me?"

"No Lee, they are both equal. The style I am teaching you is easier to learn and use and is very, very powerful but dangerous to the user, hence the drawback of it. The style I will teach Naruto, is much harder to learn and even more difficult to use it effectively. However, for his size and build it is absolutely perfect for him just as yours is perfect for you."

"Thank you Gai-Sensei," said Lee hugging his father figure.

Gai just smiled.

"So, before we get back to work we need to give you two weights," said Gai dropping a bag on the ground in front of them. "Lee, your style will require lots of leg strength and speed. So, you will only need weights on your legs to start with. Naruto, your style will require lots of speed from all areas as well as strength. You will be wearing weights on your arms and legs as well as a weighted belt. You must never take these weights off unless it is to increase the weight or you are fighting to protect a precious person."

Lee and Naruto both nodded seriously before putting on the weights.

"Now, let's get started. Lee, I want 1000 kicks with each leg on the stump. Naruto," Gai paused to take out an elastic rope with a ball in the middle. Gai tied the rope to a tree branch so that the ball was at chest level, he then tied the other end of the rope to a kunai which he then buried underground drawing the rope tight. "Naruto, you will hit this ball 250 times with each arm and each leg. Every time you hit the ball it will fly back at you so you must move out of its path quickly. You must always circle around the ball as you go. I'll show you once and then you can do the rest on your own." Gai then hit the ball hard causing it to go back a few inches before shoot toward him quickly almost two feet.

Naruto for the life of him could not figure out the physics of it but rather than question the how and why it did that he just got on with the exercise. Naruto hit the ball once and just about broke his hand. It was hard but soft at the same time, like taught muscles would be. He barely moved the ball in the slightest back but it still shot forward at him hitting him in the chest knocking the wind right out of him. In the back of his mind he could hear the Kyubi laughing at him. This was going to be a long training session.

Soon weeks turned into months turned into two years. In that time Naruto and Lee had become good friends. They were both orphans and both wanted nothing more than to become great shinobi. Lee wanted to prove his ninja way, to become the greatest Taijutsu master ever and prove that a person could become a ninja using only Taijutsu. Naruto still sought acknowledgement and to become Hokage. And as promised, Naruto took every opportunity he could to embarrass the Uchiha bastard while in classes. Naruto scored average on all of his tests but anytime he faced the Uchiha-Bastard in something he went out of his way to humiliate the bastard and knock him down a few pegs even if he was still the top of the class for grades.

Naruto was one of the smart ones in the class. He could definitely be considered a genius and yet he only scored average on the tests. He found out that Shino did the exact same thing even though he was a genius. Shikamaru was a genius as well but he was just lazy. Hinata, Ino, and Sakura all had to struggle very hard in the class. Ino and Sakura both excelled in the book work but suffered horribly in the physical work, although Ino was slightly better than Sakura. Hinata seemed to struggle all the way around but for a simple lack of confidence. Choji was simply an average student, he wasn't a genius but he wasn't stupid either. The same could be said for Kiba as well.

Naruto's relationship with Gai was strictly business although Gai would sometimes celebrate one of Naruto's training triumphs by treating him to Ramen. It was different than Gai and Lee's relationship which was more like father and son.

Naruto and Iruka's relationship though seemed to improve quite a bit too where Iruka looked to Naruto as a little brother and Naruto looked to him as a bit of an older brother. Still, the few connections that Naruto had made meant the world to him. It even helped to clean up the sewer-like home of Kyubi.

"**Well done kit, I have been most impressed with your improvement these last few years. You've listened well to my instructions and if you keep this up you will make a worthy container yet. Now, I have a most difficult task for you. You need to find a weapon. Follow that girl with the rolls on her head to her home. She can probably help you out,**" ordered Kyubi simply when the day was coming to an end.

As ordered, Naruto followed Tenten home. As fate would have it she lived above a weapon shop, a weapon shop that her parents owned.

Naruto entered the shop cautiously. He knew that he wasn't welcomed in most shops but he had to hope that because he was Tenten's classmate they would at least allow him to buy a few things.

"Welcome to the Ikugachi Weapon Smith," said a thin bearded made wearing a heavy black apron.

"Excuse me sir," said Naruto politely, "I'm go to the Academy with Tenten and she seems to really know weapons. I wanted to ask her about a weapon for me."

"You're Uzumaki Naruto aren't you?" asked the smithy.

"Yes sir," said Naruto not daring to meet his eyes.

"Well, do you know what kind of weapon you'd like?"

"No idea sir, someone told me that weapons often reflect our personalities. I was hoping to find such a weapon here," said Naruto with a bit of enthusiasm now that he didn't think he was going to be thrown out of the shop.

"I see, well whoever told you that is quite right," said the smithy, "Weapon's are a very personal thing. My own daughter Tenten is amazing with any kind of throwing weapon. But she just loves the standard shuriken. I've been trying to create an ultra-light, ultra-durable shuriken for her to use. The problem is that they get lost easily and they are quite expensive to make."

"Have you tried getting her to use a larger Shuriken? Like taking four kunai and putting them together but closer together on the blades. Easy to throw and hard to lose," suggested Naruto boldly.

"That's not a bad idea," said the smith, "I'll try that and see what Tenten thinks."

"Great," said Naruto happy he could be of help.

"Now, let's see about you," said the smith, "Definitely not sword. You're not refined enough for a sword. Not a mace either, you're not that barbaric and clumsy. Tell me, do you have a Taijutsu style?"

"Yes sir, Gai-sensei has been teaching me for a few years now," said Naruto.

"I see, that's good, although Gai doesn't care for weapons very much unless you're talking about Chakra Nunchaka. Do you fight close range or long range?"

"Short range," answered Naruto.

"Are your moves meant to be power, fast, or combination of both?"

"Both sir," said Naruto.

"Hmm, difficult," said the shop keeper.

"Do you use a lot of chakra?"

"Yes sir," said Naruto.

"Hmm, that just might work," said the shop keeper as he went into the back room and returned with a small wooden box which he set on the counter in front of Naruto. "Go on have a look and tell me what you think."

Naruto opened the box carefully. Inside were to leather gloves that would go at least halfway up his forearm. The gloves seemed to be framed with some kind of metal that bent freely at each joint though he could not see any hinges. Each knuckle had a small metal disk covering it. "What kind of gloves are these?"

"Those are gloves that used to be used by the Hyuga Clan ANBU members," explained the smithy, "Though none have used them in twenty or thirty years. No one knows how to use them anymore. If you ask me, the Hyuga's have gotten rather pigheaded and stubborn. They think they are invincible and don't require the use of weapons. I say they are wasting their potential."

"So what do they do?"

"They help to focus Chakra in the hands," explained the old man, "If you can master them you can even learn to create chakra spikes on the knuckles. Though the level of chakra control is almost impossible to anyone but a Hyuga, I doubt you'd be able to get that far with them. Still, from what you've told me about your fighting style, they would pack an extra bit of power in every hit you land. Just be careful of your chakra levels."

Naruto nodded, "How much sir?"

"300,000 ryou," said the smithy causing Naruto's face to face.

"I'm sorry to have wasted your time sir but I can't afford that," said Naruto checking his froggy wallet.

"I wouldn't expect you could. Most can't unless they are of the Hyuga clan," said the Smithy, "However, I could use a bit of help around the smith if you want to work for them."

Naruto's eyes shot through with hope as he looked at the man, "You mean it?"

"I must be getting soft in my old age," said the old man, "You work for me for the next year and they are yours."

"When do I start? And how long each day?"

"Just two hours a day after the Academy lets out. Who knows, maybe I can teach you a thing or two about throwing weapons while you're here," said the old man, "You'll start tomorrow and you can call me Ikugachi-san."

"Thank you so much sir, you won't regret this. I promise too that I will stay out of your customer's sight too so that it doesn't hurt your business," said Naruto.

Ikugachi-san gave Naruto an odd look. Naruto could tell that he man was searching to see if Naruto knew he was a vessel, "what makes you say something like that?"

"Most villagers don't like and call me names. I don't want you to lose business if your customers see that I'm working here," explained Naruto, "Though, I can't say as why the villagers don't like me, they just don't."

Ikugachi nodded his acceptance of Naruto's story.

"Great then, I'll see you tomorrow," said Ikugachi waving good-bye to Naruto as he left the shop.

Naruto barely heard the Ikugachi's wife rush into the room after he was out the door and start to berate her husband for doing that. Naruto promised himself then that he wouldn't let the old smithy down.

Naruto arrived the next day as promised at the appointed time.

"Welcome back Naruto," said Ikugachi.

"Thank you again sir," said Naruto, "What do you want me to do?"

"Well, until you gain a bit more understanding of smithing weapons, I want you to work the bellows and shovel coal to keep the furnace hot. It will be really hard work for you but you'll learn a lot," explained the old smithy.

Naruto nodded and got straight to work. When Ikugachi said it would be tough work he wasn't kidding. Even still, Naruto gave the man his absolute best work everyday. As a result Naruto's muscled had developed quite rapidly as a result of the constant lifting and the weights from Gai's training.

Naruto still received glares from the smith's wife whenever she entered the shop but even those were beginning to wane as she saw how hard Naruto worked everyday. He never saw hide nor hair of Tenten beyond following her home at a safe distance so the villagers didn't pass any undue hate onto her and her family from associating with him.

It was few weeks later that Naruto learned his next bit about weaponry, "Alright Naruto, take a break, I want to teach you something."

Naruto nodded and wiped the sweat from his brow as he went to the smithy's side.

"Naruto, forging weapons is not easy work. Part of it requires extremely good chakra control in our hands and arms. Why you ask? Because when we forge the weapons for shinobi they often have special requests with regards to the design. Most of your Jounin level shinobi want weapons that can focus and augment their chakra for special uses. Hatake Kakashi once used a weapon known as a fang. It was design so that by focusing chakra into the blade it made the blade stronger and sharper. Not an easy task to accomplish without really good control. But to forge such a weapon requires absolutely perfect control," explained the smithy.

Naruto nodded interestedly. He was in fact really interested in this. He had never gone past Genin so he'd rarely seen any special weapons used by Jounin Shinobi.

"So, before I can start letting you help me forge the weapons you need work on your control," said Ikugachi calmly.

"How do I do that?" asked Naruto.

"Any time you are not pumping the bellows or shoveling coal to heat the furnace you are to balance a kunai on your finger using your chakra. Now, I'll warn you now, I am giving you one of my best kunai to train with. It is weighted to be heavier but the metal is specialized to be sharper so if you don't use just the right amount of chakra you'll cut your finger off. Also, this kunai had better not ever touch the floor of this place, I don't want the edge damaged because you weren't paying attention. When you've gotten the hang of balancing one kunai we'll add another until you can balance one kunai on every finger at the same time, got it?"

Naruto swallowed nervously before nodding. He already knew he was going to lose at least one finger trying to learn this. "What happens if it does hit the floor?"

"You leave hear and not come back," said Ikugachi in dead seriousness, "Weapons are not toys, they are meant to be respected and cared for. Dropping a weapon shows a lack of respect for me, my trade, and the weapons."

Naruto understood his words perfectly and nodded his understanding. This was something he was going to learn and learn fast. Just as Naruto predicted he cut off at least one finger learning the exercise in the first place but the kunai never hit the floor even he was bleeding. Thanks to Kyubi however, Naruto just put the finger back where it was supposed to be and Kyubi healed it right away without the old man ever having to know.

It took Naruto nearly a month to learn to properly balance one kunai on his finger tip. It was six months after that before he could balance ten kunai on all ten digits at the same time.

"You've done well Naruto," said Ikugachi as Naruto showed him is balancing act, "It took me almost two years to be able to do that, but then I was already much older when I first started to learn to do that. You kids learn so fast as it is. Tenten mastered that trick in about three weeks, the little scamp."

"Really?" asked Naruto, "She must have perfect control."

"She does, but she hasn't really learned any other techniques. She says she wants to be strong like Tsunade-hime but she never trains anything but her weapons. Oh well, once she becomes a Genin she'll understand much better," said Ikugachi with a small smile at Naruto.

"You should take to see the Chuunin exams then the next time they come to the village. She would be able to see some of the other shinobi and how they train," said Naruto, "I only went once and I had to sneak in but you learn so much from watching them."

Ikugachi chuckled, "I just might do that. Now, let's get back to work. Maybe next week I'll teach more about making weapons. In the mean time, I want you to continue practicing your chakra control."

Naruto nodded vigorously setting back to work.

It was two weeks later Ikugachi started to show Naruto how to scan different metals for impurities using his new chakra control which he picked up quickly enough. Then he learned about folding the metal to strengthen the blade and finally he learned how make the weapons capable of focusing chakra using different seals folded into the metal and then altering them carefully using his own chakra. Naruto then learned about all the different kinds of weapons that had been made and what was popular at the time.

"So Naruto, you've been with me for eleven months now," said Ikugachi, "Did you learn anything?"

"So much," said Naruto excitedly as he started rattling off everything that he'd learned from the smith.

"Outstanding," said Ikugachi when Naruto finished his recitation, "You've learned everything I hoped you would. Now, for your final challenge from me. I want you to create a weapon for me. Something original and new that I've never forged before. Put your heart into it and create a masterpiece for me. You do that and the glove is yours and your time with me is done."

"Really?" asked Naruto excitedly, "Does that mean I can use the good metal?"

"Indeed it does, I trust you now boy so get to work," said Ikugachi.

For the next month and a half Naruto meticulously crafted his masterpiece. A salute to Kyubi that was to be aptly named 'Kyubi's Tail'.

He made a blade unlike any that had been seen in centuries. The blade was forged in ten different segments with whip-like inner structure allowing the blade to be both a solid blade and a whip at the same time. The chakra seals that Naruto used were simply ingenious. He spent weeks pouring over sealing texts trying to find just the right seals to place on the blade pieces to make them do what he wanted. He mixed a bit of his chakra along with Kyubi's chakra in the final sealing process giving the blade a red/orange color. It was very powerful at the end of the process. Sadly though, Naruto knew he would never have the fines or skill to wield such an amazing blade.

Finally, Naruto presented the finished product to Ikugachi.

"Well, I can't say as I've ever seen a sword design quite like this before," said Ikugachi appreciatively, "You get points for originality, now show me what it can do."

Naruto took the blade in hand and channeled a bit of his chakra into which turn crimson the instant it came in contact with the blade. Naruto swung the blade once showing its smooth slice. He then jutted the blade forward hard causing it to separate at each segment turning to a bladed-whip which he swung about clumsily and yet it looked amazing to watch at the same time. Finally the whip came back together solid as a single piece, or rather what looked like a single piece.

Naruto looked to Ikugachi to see a slight look of fear in his eyes.

"How? How is it possible to create such a blade? Where did that other chakra come from?"

"I don't know, I've always had a second Chakra that was kind of red/orange in color. I thought it would look cool in a blade. It kind of reminded me of the way Kyubi looks in the history books you know? That's why I named the sword 'Kyubi's Tail'. Fitting huh?"

Ikugachi nodded numbly. Naruto had just told him that he had a second chakra source that he could always use for as long as he could remember. He'd been able to use Kyubi's chakra and not know what exactly it was. More than that he'd drawn a parallel between himself and Kyubi and yet the boy had no idea what was sealed inside him or so he thought.

"Naruto, I will be presenting this blade to the Hokage, none of my apprentices have ever forged such a fine, high quality blade," said Ikugachi now beaming with pride after having gotten over his shock and awe.

"Really? Do you think he'll like it?" asked Naruto excitedly but secretly worried he'd overdone it by a long shot.

"I think he will be really impressed that such a genius has been overlooked for so long," said Ikugachi.

"I don't want to be a genius. Genius' are stuck up snobs who always think they no better than everyone else. I might be as smart as a genius but I am not one of those bastards," said Naruto strongly causing Ikugachi to chuckle.

"Indeed, you're right Naruto," said Ikugachi, "Genius' are a bit stuck up. So we'll just say you are gifted."

"That will work," said Naruto clearly appeased by the change in wording.

Ikugachi laughed again at his extremely gifted nine year old apprentice. Only a shinobi would be able to learn the things Naruto has and actually be able to do that which he's learned. No normal citizen could ever hope to compete with a shinobi when it came to learning to do such a physically and mentally intensive job.

**BREAK**

Ikugachi sat patiently waiting outside of the Hokage's office holding onto one of the most finely crafted blades that came from his shop. The blade was wrapped in red silk. Ikugachi could almost feel the blade pulsating with energy in his hands.

"The Hokage will see you now Ikugachi-san," said the secretary.

Ikugachi bowed and entered the Hokage's office.

"Toya, so nice to see you again," said old man Sarutobi.

"Saru my old friend," said Ikugachi, "How are you?"

"Very well thank you. I must say, I am surprised that you have come to see me. You have not presented a weapon to me in such a long time. I was beginning to think you'd lost your touch."

"Not at all, just no reason to make anything exceptional. I'm overstocked on exceptional at the moment so the regular variety weapons have kept me busy," said Ikugachi.

"I see, so what do you have for me today?" asked Sarutobi.

Ikugachi set the blade on the desk and uncover the handle for the Hokage to examine it himself.

Sarutobi took the weapon in hand and removed it from the silk wrappings to examine it closer. He could indeed feel the overwhelming chakra flowing through the blade.

"My word," whispered Sarutobi, "How did you do this?"

"I didn't, my most recent apprentice did," said Ikugachi.

"Who?" asked Sarutobi most interested. He was truthfully hoping he could convince whoever made the blade to make more weapons of this quality.

"Uzumaki Naruto," said Ikugachi.

Sarutobi nearly dropped the blade as he suddenly recognized the chakra flowing from the blade, "He did? But how, his teachers all say he is only average in his studies. For that matter, when did he start an apprenticeship with you? I check up on the boy regularly and he's never made mention of him apprenticing for you."

"He didn't know he was apprenticing to me. He thought it was just an after school job to help him pay for a pair of Chakra Gloves he wanted to buy," explained Ikugachi.

"So that was the after school job he mentioned," said Sarutobi before he asked, "A bit young to start with that kind of work though don't you think."

"A first it was just a job, but then I saw how much he grew and how much his strength increased that I knew he'd be capable and I was right," said Ikugachi.

"But what about this Chakra, how did he?"

"He said that he's always had two different chakras. He thought it would look cool if he used his other chakra to color it. He said he thought it looked like the pictures of Kyubi from the History books. The blade is named 'Kyubi's Tail'."

"Tail, why tail? This only looks like a sword to me," said Sarutobi examining it again.

"Allow me to show you," said Ikugachi taking the blade back and then showing the Sarutobi the whip-like feature of it.

"It truly is 'Kyubi's Tail', isn't it?" asked Sarutobi.

"It may be, but I know that Naruto just used his imagination in creating," said Ikugachi, "I know he isn't Kyubi. Maybe he's had dreams of Kyubi, perhaps his very first memory from when Yondaime sealed the beast within him."

"Perhaps, but that doesn't explain how the boy can access the Kyubi's chakra," said Sarutobi as he scratched his chin.

"Anyway, I still wanted to show you the blade and ask for your appraisal of its quality," said Ikugachi.

"I would say around three or four," said Sarutobi.

"Hundred thousand?" asked Ikugachi.

"Million," said Sarutobi, "This place is nearly priceless. You will ever see a blade anywhere imbued with Demon Chakra such as this one. It is one of a kind."

Ikugachi was speechless. He truly did not know how to react.

"However, we really should have the blade tested by a blade master," said Sarutobi before he pushed the intercom button, "Send for Hayate please."

"Right away Hokage-sama," came the secretary's voice back.

"Please sit and wait," said Sarutobi motioning to the chair.

"It was only a minute later that Hayate appeared, cough and all.

"You called for me Hokage-sama," said Hayate kneeling properly.

"I have asked you here to test a blade for me," said Sarutobi motioning to the sword on his desk.

"As you wish," said Hayate standing and taking the blade in hand, "Perfectly balanced, light weight yet very durable, perfect alignment," listed off Hayate as he inspected the blade.

"Experiment with it if you would," requested Sarutobi.

Hayate took a few swings of the blade and was very surprised when the blade became a whip. Once he found that he experimented even more trying to understand the exact way in which it functioned.

Sarutobi and Ikugachi could both see that Hayate did not wish to relinquish the blade that was now in his hands.

"Very good, no?" asked Ikugachi.

"It is, is it your work?" asked Hayate.

"A recently finished apprenticeship," said Ikugachi, "Maybe you have heard of the boy, Uzumaki Naruto."

"The demon," said Hayate quickly setting the blade down and stepping away from it.

"Naruto is not a demon, he is a boy who is extremely gifted," said Ikugachi unhappily, "That blade is probably one of the finest in the village. But, if people hear that Naruto forged it, no one will want to touch it."

"But the blade must be evil," said Hayate, "I could feel the demon chakra on it."

"So what? Did you feel evil using it?" asked Sarutobi.

"Well no but . . ."

"Did you feel stronger using it?" asked Sarutobi.

"Well yes but . . ."

"So would you say the demon chakra enhances your strength but doesn't affect the way you think?" asked Sarutobi.

"I suppose but . . ."

"Good, then would you like to purchase this fine blade?" asked Ikugachi playing off of Sarutobi's questioning.

"I would but . . ."

"Good, the blade is yours, we'll work out a payment plan later. I am most interested to hear how well this blade fares under you excellent hands," said Ikugachi.

"Yes, I want you take the next week off to train with that blade and see what it is truly capable of. I don't want you going on a mission for the next month without it in your possession," ordered Sarutobi, "And don't worry about paying for it. The village will buy and dispatch the blade for your usage. However, I do want a report after you've finished training with it and after your month of missions with it reporting on its quality and any abilities you have uncovered in using it."

"Yes Hokage-sama," said Hayate knowing there was no room for argument.

"And if you have any questions feel free to contract the maker. I imagine you will find him spending most of his time in the training fields getting used to his new Chakra Gloves with Maito Gai's instruction," said Sarutobi with a smile signaling the end of the meeting.

"I'll be sure to let you know if Naruto makes any other weapons in my shop," said Ikugachi as he also left the Hokage's office.

"You're becoming very interesting Uzumaki Naruto," said Sarutobi as he looked out of his office window surveying the village below. "Very interesting indeed."

**BREAK**

"Naruto, I am pleased to see that you have increased your training time back to where it was a year ago," said Gai happily.

"Sorry Sensei, there was something I had to do," said Naruto, "And now I've got these." Naruto then held up the Chakra Gloves for Gai to examine.

"Chakra Gloves," said Gai, "Interesting choice of weapons Naruto. If you are able to learn to use them then they will compliment your Taijutsu style very nicely."

"Oh yeah, I almost forgot," said Naruto digging into the bag he brought with him, "I found this scroll in a small shop and thought it might be useful for Lee and I."

Gai smiled, "Naruto, the flames and passion of youth are strong in to care so much for your friend and teacher." Gai took the scroll and opened it and began reading. "Naruto, where did you find this? This was supposed to be a lost technique."

"Just some old junk shop. The lady pretty much threw it at me to get me out of the shop though," he said acting a bit sad.

"Naruto, this scroll holds the gravity seal technique meant for intense physical training. With this technique you will never again need to change your weights, only the seal," said Gai, "I have never been so proud in my life."

"Oh, okay," said Naruto while in his head he was chided Kyubi for not telling him how rare the technique was when he wrote the scroll out the night before.

"Remove your weights my students for with this you shall receive the greatest training ever," said Gai.

"So how does it work?" asked Naruto.

"It is a genjutsu that make your muscles strain as though the gravity was heavier than it actually is. It makes you stronger faster than regular weight because it affects every muscle but your heart and lungs," explained Gai.

"This is going to be so great," shouted Lee before jumping up and dancing about. Thankfully he didn't have the green spandex suit yet and he wouldn't get one until he became an official Genin of the Leaf Village.

"This is going to suck," said Naruto under his breath as he prepared for the worst.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of the characters created by Kishimoto-sensei.

"Finally, I can take the damn Genin exam," said Naruto to himself as he went to the academy. He was thirteen, the normal age for graduating from the academy and now he just had get past this stupid test.

"Welcome class," said Iruka, "today we will be having the Genin exams. Good luck to all of you. Please come into the next room when your name is called."

Naruto put his head down on the desk to wait for his turn.

"This is boring just sitting here," complained Kiba.

"So, send Akamaru to piss on Uchiha-Bastard's leg," said Naruto with an evil smirk.

"Good idea," said Kiba before looking at his dog, "So what do you think?"

"Bark," replied Akamaru which Kiba seemed to understand.

"But it'll be funny," said Kiba.

"Bark Bark," replied Akamaru.

"Fine, you're right we should just concentrate on the exam," said Kiba.

"Hey Shino, I'll pay you a 100 ryou to have you send some of your bugs up Sasuke's pant to itch him during his test," said Naruto to his bug-fetish friend.

"They say no," said Shino simply.

"Che," complained Naruto putting his head back on the desk to wait his turn.

"Naruto, what do you have against Sasuke anyway?" asked Choji between bites of chips.

"He lusts for power because of what his brother did and now he won't hesitate to do anything to get the power he's after. That includes betraying the village and/or killing one of us," said Naruto, "I may not be the sharpest kunai in the pouch but I can read people like Shikamaru can read a shogi board."

"You really think that Sasuke would do something like that?" asked Choji.

"Without a doubt," said Naruto.

"The bugs say Naruto is right," said Shino before going silent again.

"I hope I don't end up on his team," said Kiba.

"If I do, I might just accidentally kill him on our first serious mission," said Naruto coldly.

"You're probably the only person in class that could," said Choji.

"Nah, Shino could take him," said Naruto.

"So how come neither of you are rookie of the year?" asked Choji.

"Because we're smarter than Sasuke. We know that if we just do average on our scores we'll end up on a more well-balanced team. Best in class and worst in class always get paired together creating a really bad imbalance in team strength. The top in class is always expected to make up for the worst student's shortcomings," said Naruto, "On the other, just because someone is bad in class does not mean that they aren't good shinobi. Some people just can't take tests but are excellent when using Jutsu, maybe even better than the top student."

"You really think so?" asked Choji.

"Yep," said Naruto just before his name was called in to do the exam.

Naruto was sent to a different class after he finished the test to wait on the other students that passed the exam.

Choji, Shikamaru, Shino, and Kiba soon joined him along with another twenty-some students, including the Uchiha-Bastard.

"Good job graduates," said Iruka after he entered the room, "Be back here tomorrow morning to receive your team assignment."

After everyone left Naruto dragged Iruka to eat Ramen . . . again.

"I don't know how you can eat that stuff everyday and still get stronger. It has got to be unhealthy," said Iruka.

"Nah, I have a special metabolism that let's me eat whatever I want," said Naruto calmly.

"Naruto, the Hokage, he asked me to talk to you about something important," said Iruka.

Naruto could hear the hesitation in his voice. He had a feeling he knew what it was about, "If it's about my resident then you don't need to tell me, I already know."

Iruka just spit out the noodles in mouth before looking at Naruto in shock. "How? How did you find out?"

"Hmm . . ." said Naruto thinking, "I met him and he told me what happened and then I told he had to start paying rent. So for a long time now I've been using my Chakra and if I need it I can use his too, though he can be a bit stingy."

"You met him? And you're still alive?"

"Yeh, it's no big deal. Sure he's seven thousand years old but once you get to know him he's gentle as a pussy-cat," said Naruto dripping with sarcasm that was not lost on the instructor.

"How is he really?"

"Cranky, loud, obnoxious, and really pushy. He's got this idea in his head that I should be a worthy container so he's constantly going off at the mouth about training more. In a sense, it is kind of good to have him yelling at me to train all the time because I'm always getting stronger but it does get down right annoying at times," explained Naruto honestly.

"How long have you known?"

"Since I was six, some idiot villager hit me in the head with a beer bottle and left me for dead. That was the first time I met the fox. He healed me and called me a weak vessel that was unworthy of his greatness. Well, you know me. I didn't take that very well. I don't know if you notice but my pranks suddenly stopped around that time. I was expending all that extra energy torturing the fox anyway I could. Usually just taunting him or singing children's songs in my head. He's sworn to me that if he ever meets 'Barney' that he tear him limb from limb and use his entrails as floss. I can't say as I disagree with him on that one but it still gets dead annoying. So, we've reach a compromise. I train to become a worthy container and he gives up his chakra when I ask for," explained Naruto as he continued to eat his Ramen.

"Why haven't you talked to the Hokage about this?"

"Why would I? He never told me about it in the first place and yet he must have known. He may have always been kind to me and treated me fairly when most other wouldn't but he still lied or rather kept secrets about me from me. Why can't I keep some of my own secrets about me from him?" asked Naruto a bit hotly.

Iruka just nodded, "That is a fair point Naruto. And you're certain the fox will not be escaping?"

Naruto gave Iruka dirty look, "What do you take me for, a simpleton? That was first thing I looked into when I learned about the fox. I found out every last detail about the seals Yondaime used to seal that bastard in to make sure he would never get. I might not have had a choice in having the bastard put in there but now that he's there, he sure as hell isn't getting out."

Iruka smile fondly at Naruto, "I still don't know why didn't apply yourself in classes. You could have been rookie of the year."

"So could have Shino, but he and I both understand that we have better odds of ending up on a more well balanced team by being average even if we are gifted," said Naruto as he motioned to the cook for another bowl.

Iruka smiled and continued his ramen. That night did not get as stressful as it could have been.

Iruka saw Naruto home before he went to meet with the Hokage as promised.

"So Iruka, tell me, how did Naruto take the news?"

"He already knew," said Iruka to the Hokage's surprise. Iruka then launched into the explanation that Naruto gave him.

In the end the Hokage was chuckling, "Amazing."

"I know, I couldn't believe how candid he was in talking about it," said Iruka.

"Did you have any reason to doubt his story?" asked Sarutobi.

"No, I've known Naruto for a long time now. I can tell when he's lying or withholding information," said Iruka confidently.

"I see. It would have been so easy for him to feign ignorance of the fox with the law, even more so as it never came up in conversation beyond history lessons," said Sarutobi.

"Anyway, it is getting late sir and I still have to arrange the teams," said Iruka politely excusing himself.

"Naruto, you're turning out more and more interesting everyday," said the Hokage as he puffed on his pipe.

**BREAK**

Naruto woke up early the next day as usual to meet with Gai and Lee for their morning workout. A work out that Neji and Tenten never knew about nor care to take part in. They were both satisfied with the way things were and saw no reason to change, besides as Neji was often quoted, 'I am fated to this path' or some such bullshit.

The morning routine ended when Lee and Gai had to go meet their team for their daily mission.

Naruto though went home for a quick shower before he had to report to the academy for team assignments. Naruto walked in to the class just as it was about to begin just as it always did.

"Congratulations again to all of you who passed. However, now the real work begins in your journey towards becoming Chuunin," said Iruka proudly.

"So, here are the teams . . . Team 7, Hyuga Hinata, Uzumaki Naruto and Uchiha Sasuke," said Iruka.

Naruto shot up to his throwing his chair back away from him "Change the teams," he ordered.

"I'm sorry Naruto, but the teams were approved by the Hokage," said Iruka.

"If you put me on the same team as the Uchiha-Bastard I will no doubt kill him and then there will be no Uchiha left in Konoha and then when I kill Itachi, there will be no Uchiha anywhere. The clan will end and the Sharingan will be lost forever," said Naruto adamantly.

"Naruto, teams are final as approved by the Hokage. You'll just have to work out your differences," said Iruka before continuing on with the team listings.

Naruto picked up his discard chair and threw it with such force at the blackboard that the feet actually went through the board before Naruto stormed out of the classroom headed straight for the Hokage's office.

"Let me see the old man," Naruto said to the secretary who gave him a cold look in return.

"You have to come back later, the Hokage is in a meeting and is not to be disturbed, especially by one like you," said the secretary.

Naruto just growled before ignoring her and the ANBU outside the office and stormed inside.

In the office the Hokage was sitting with Hyuga Hiashi obviously deep in discussion.

"Naruto, what can I do for you?" asked the Hokage noting the red-slit eyes Naruto was sporting at the moment. It either meant Naruto was pissed or the Kyubi was in charge.

"Change the damn teams," said Naruto simply.

"Naruto, the teams are chosen based the ability to balance its members out," said Sarutobi.

"Change the damn teams now," said Naruto getting angrier than before.

Sarutobi took a file out of his desk to check the team assignments.

"Ah, I see," said Sarutobi, "Naruto, please sit for a moment and calm down. Let me explain my reasoning."

Naruto never had reason to doubt the old man in the past so he sat to listen.

"Naruto, have you met Hyuga Hiashi?" asked Sarutobi politely.

"No sir, but I have heard of you," said Naruto politely inclining his head to the man. Naruto could tell both men were slightly unnerved to see the red-Kyubi eyes staring them both down.

"Naruto, are you aware that Hyuga Hinata has had several attempts on her life from other villages trying to acquire the Byakugan eyes?" asked Sarutobi.

"Yes sir," said Naruto.

"Hinata was dead last in the class this year not because she isn't capable but because she lacks confidence. Every time someone attempts to kidnap her or take her eyes she slips a bit more. Now you are simply overflowing with confidence, something that could help her greatly," explained Sarutobi.

"Hinata is not the problem, that Uchiha-Bastard is the problem," said Naruto still fuming.

"I understand that but let me finish," said Sarutobi calmly trying to pacify Naruto, "The last place student and first place student are always pared together to balance them out. But this time, it is also to provide Hinata-san with extra protection."

"Uchiha is not even that good, Shino is by far better than Sasuke and so am I for that matter," protested Naruto.

"I know, but there is still more to it. Sasuke is constantly looking for a fight to improve his ability. He is there for more like to fight any attackers than protect her. To an extent we need that. We need to keep the Uchiha occupied with challenges," explained Sarutobi.

Something was finally starting to make a bit of sense to Naruto.

"Uchiha Sasuke is a flight risk," said Sarutobi finally, "he is so consumed by his desire for power that he would do anything to get his hands on it. Not only that but when Itachi killed off the clan he did something to Sasuke's mind which have been unable to repair. Top that off with the fact that our spies have recently learned that someone has taken an interest in Sasuke."

"Orochimaru," said Naruto coolly.

"Yes, how did you know?" asked Sarutobi.

"It's not that hard to figure out. Orochimaru abandoned the village after he was passed over for Hokage swearing he'd have his revenge. Orochimaru's greatest ambition is to learn every Jutsu in the world. He can do that with the Sharingan eyes. And if I remember correct, he abandoned the village after you caught him doing human experimentation in the pursuit of finding an immortality technique, which is impossible as even Demons aren't immortal, even if they'd like to think so. So that leaves a mind switching Jutsu which wouldn't be that hard to develop into a permanent technique if it was based of the Yamanaka's Hijutsu."

"Very good Naruto," said Sarutobi, "You even thought of some angle I had not considered."

"So basically, you want me to back up the Uchiha if there are anymore attempts to take Hinata and more than that, you want me there to prevent the Uchiha-Bastard from running," said Naruto calmly, his read eyes faded some time ago.

"Exactly," said Sarutobi.

"And if he does try to run?" asked Naruto.

"Then he will have to be eliminated," said Sarutobi, "Though we would like to recover the Sharingan eyes if possible. You're Jounin Sensei has already been briefed on the situation so don't be too surprised if at some point your sensei ignores you to train Sasuke if for nothing else than to appease the boy and keep him in the village."

"I have just one request then," said Naruto, "Under no circumstances is the Uchiha to be taught any assassination techniques like the Rasengan or Kakashi-san's Chidori. If he is a flight risk then the last thing we need is for him to know such techniques and make sure the Jounin instructor is aware of that because so help if he is taught such a technique I will Kyubi out of his cage just to kill that Jounin." With that Naruto stood and left behind a stunned Hokage and Hyuga Head.

Once Naruto was out of the room the door closed to reveal one Hatake Kakashi standing behind the door.

"I hope you were listening very closely to what that boy just told us Kakashi-san," said Sarutobi, "I don't care how he knows about those techniques, but so help if you put him such a position where he would even consider unleashing Kyubi, that demon will be the least of your worries next to me."

Kakashi was actually paying close attention to the warning despite his itch to read his favorite novel.

"Hyuga-sama, do you have any doubts now that your daughter will be safe with her selected team?" asked Sarutobi.

"I actually feel safer with her being teamed with that boy, Naruto, than I do with her being teamed with Kakashi or the Uchiha-Bastard," said Hiashi coolly.

"Naruto is the type that he would die to protect those important to him," said Sarutobi, "You should feel honored that he still feels this village is very important to him."

"And what about the inevitable confrontation between him and the Uchiha?" asked Kakashi, "Would Naruto really kill him?"

"I just gave Naruto an order not to kill him but to retrieve the Sharingan. If that boy ever tries to betray the village I have no doubt that Naruto will bring him back alive. However, I doubt that the Uchiha will ever be able to be shinobi again afterwards," said Sarutobi.

"I would agree with your appraisal," said Hiashi, "I would highly suggest you be very mindful of that boys request with regards to training the Uchiha."

"I still say that one of those girls would have been better for the Uchiha's temperament," said Kakashi.

"I might have agreed with you once upon a time, but the situation is how it is for a reason," said Sarutobi, "Now, you will go and collect your team. I would suggest you forget about that book of yours because I get the feeling that Naruto will not react too kindly to you being late."

Kakashi shrugged and strolled out of the room.

"Naruto will be most interesting to watch over the next few years," said Hiashi.

"Most interesting indeed," agreed Sarutobi.

**BREAK**

Naruto left that office with his mind reeling with new questions for all the answers he just received. So many things from the first time line were falling into place. So many of the questions that had been left unanswered when he came back were now all filled in. Kakashi didn't just ignore him in favor of the Uchiha-Bastard, he was ordered to in the hopes of preventing the Uchiha from becoming a missing-nin. But then did Sarutobi know that Naruto would have been able to recover Sasuke that first time too or was there something else involved?

Naruto was giving himself a severe migraine trying to sort through all the information so instead he just decided to play things by ear at this point.

Naruto returned to the classroom where only Hinata and Sasuke were left waiting. The chair was still stuck in the wall. Sasuke gave him the evil eye upon entering and Hinata just about ducked under desk in fright. Naruto could already tell this was going to be a long couple of months until the Chuunin exams.

Naruto took a seat as far away from the Uchiha-Bastard as possible when ended up with him sitting next to Hinata. Naruto could hear her heart beating rapidly just sitting next to her.

"Hinata, calm down," said Naruto in a calm soothing voice, "Just because hate that bastard down there doesn't mean I don't like you."

Hinata's heart fluttered for a moment but calm down noticeably afterward.

"Better," said Naruto with a friendly smile that made Hinata just about melt in her seat. "You know, I saw your father in the Hokage's office."

Hinata looked panicked.

"Don't worry, he was just worried that you team might hold you back," said Naruto with a minor lie, "I know he acts tough on the outside but he really does care about you."

Hinata couldn't believe what she was hearing from Naruto. It had to be a lie but then Naruto would never lie, it wasn't his nindo.

"Anyway, he was more concerned about that Uchiha-Bastard endangering your life," said Naruto a bit louder than necessary for Hinata to hear just to torment Sasuke. Naruto winked at Hinata in the hopes that she would play along.

"Tousan has always said that the Uchiha were more dangerous to there teammates than to the enemy," said Hinata stuttering slightly. That was actually true though she didn't really understand what that comment was about.

"He's right," said Naruto with a smirk, "You have to watch yourself around them Uchiha or they'll stick a knife in your back. Just look at what Sasuke's brother did. He was well respected in the village a bright star among shinobi and then he kills his very best friend, an Uchiha, to upgrade the Sharingan eyes to their ultimate level and the he goes and kills his entire clan, save for his weak little brother."

Hinata was in shock, she never knew that information. No one had ever told her, "Is that true Naruto-kun?" she asked timidly.

Naruto looked at Hinata seriously for a minute before he spoke, "Hinata, I wouldn't lie about something like that to you. That really happened. So, I'll warn you now. While Sasuke might have the potential to be a powerful shinobi he is too dangerous to befriend. His mind is sick with revenge and he will do anything to get it including killing his best friend. Now, I will protect you no matter what Hinata but don't risk your life unnecessarily, that's my job. You just worry about getting stronger and fighting for what you feel is right, okay?"

Hinata nodded vigorously, not trusting herself to speak. Naruto had just sworn to give his life if necessary to protect. But more than that, he had encouraged her to get stronger and follow her beliefs.

"So, Hinata, enough picking on the poor Uchiha-Bastard. Why do you want to be a shinobi?" In all the time Naruto had known Hinata he'd never talked to her much and figured now was as good a time as any.

"I want to change my clan and myself," stuttered the girl.

"That is a great dream Hinata," said Naruto with a fond smile, "I know too that someday you'll make that dream come true if you work hard for it."

Hinata smiled slightly before bowing her head in thanks.

"Hinata, no need to bow to me, I'm not an Uchiha-Bastard to be worshipped like a god. I'm just Naruto, future Hokage and all of that."

Hinata actually laughed a bit at that.

"You laughed," said Naruto in amazement, "You know, in all the years I've known you I've never heard you laugh before. It's nice, you should do that more often."

With that comment Hinata blushed furiously and couldn't or rather wouldn't dare meet Naruto's eyes.

Naruto checked his watch, "He should be here right about . . . . now." And with that the door opened to reveal a silver-haired man with one eye covered by his forehead protector and the other looked rather sleepy.

"Why don't we go up on the roof," he suggested before he vanished.

"Great, he's a pervert," said Naruto.

"How do you know that?" asked Hinata curiously as she followed Naruto out of the classroom.

"Did you see that orange book sticking out of his pouch?" asked Naruto.

"Yes?" said Hinata, "Why does that make him a pervert?"

"That book is the infamous 'Icha Icha Paradise' by the Super Pervert Jiraiya, also one of the Sannin," said Naruto, "If he has that book it means he's a pervert."

"Oh, how do you know about that book?"

"I caught the Hokage reading it once," said Naruto not wanting to go into too much detail.

"Oh," said Hinata.

"Your father reads it too. I saw him coming out of the adult book store once with nose in it. His face was a bit red," said Naruto, "I'm pretty sure that most of the male population in this village is perverted. Ninja really are lacking interpersonal skills if they have to really on a book for their kicks."

Hinata blushed horribly at Naruto's comment but she was mortified to find out that her father, her dignified, honorable, well-respected father, read that kind of smut. Then the thought struck her that she now had blackmail material, not that she would ever use such a thing.

Finally Naruto and Hinata arrived. Kakashi and Sasuke were already waiting.

"What took you so long?" demanded a very unhappy and very angry Sasuke.

"What's the rush, especially when this pervert was already three hours late?" asked Naruto jerking a thumb at their new sensei.

"Why don't we start with introductions? You know, what you like, don't like, hobbies, dreams for the future, that sort of things," said Kakashi.

"I'm Uzumaki Naruto, I like Ramen, Cup Ramen, training Taijutsu with Gai-sensei, reading technique scrolls, and pissing off the Uchiha-Bastard. I don't like the three minutes it takes to boil water for Cup Ramen, the Uchiha-Bastard, or people that would betray our village for a little more power. As a hobby I like to make special chakra weapons using my second Chakra source because they look damn cool when I'm finished with them. My dream is to be able to protect my precious people by becoming Hokage and to find out who my parents were," rattled off Naruto enthusiastically, looking pointedly at the Uchiha-Bastard at the right moments.

"Very good Naruto," said Kakashi even though he didn't quite understand the second chakra part, "Now you Hinata-san."

"I like . . ." then she blushed after glancing at Naruto, "I don't like mean people like Uchiha-san. My hobbies are flower arranging and singing. My dream is to change my clan and become a strong heir."

Kakashi smiled through his facemask at the girl, "Very Nice Hinata. Now you Sasuke."

"I don't like much. I hate a lot of things. My only hobby is to become stronger. Dreams are for weak people. My ambition is to kill a certain man and then rebuild my clan," said Sasuke coldly.

"Idiot," said Naruto, "An ambition is the same a dream. They are both simply goals for the future."

Sasuke glared hard at Naruto and radiated a fair amount of killer intent toward the blond.

"Well, that's good everyone, I'm Hatake Kakashi, I like a lot of things. My hobbies are . . . I have dreams."

"In other words, you like to read porn and make money to buy more porn which is also your hobby. Most of your dreams are probably perverted as well," said Naruto.

Kakashi frowned under his mask. He'd never had a student that was so hostile toward him. Not even Sasuke was so hostile toward him. "Anyway, meet me tomorrow at five on training field seven for a survival exercise."

"You mean final test," said Naruto coolly.

"Exactly, now don't eat or you'll puke. See you then, later," said Kakashi slightly irked. How was it possible for Naruto to know so much? Kakashi just shrugged it off, he'd missed a lot of reading time that morning and need to catch up, so he just disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"Pervert," mumbled Naruto.

"I'd be better off on my own," said Sasuke as he stalked off.

"You'd be dead on your own," said Naruto.

"And I'm supposed to be able to learn from that pervert," said Sasuke.

Naruto was slightly annoyed that he didn't fully appreciate the situation. "He was Yondaime Hokage's prized student. He might be a pervert but he is probably the strongest Ninjutsu user in the village other than the Hokage."

"What would you know?" question Sasuke clearly pissed off that he'd been out done by someone average yet again.

"Obviously more than you. Now I'm leaving," said Naruto, "Want to come Hinata?"

Hinata was shocked that Naruto invited her along so she just nodded and followed along next to him.

"What do you want to do? We have the rest of the day off," said Naruto with a smile on his face. The cold exterior he was presenting to Sasuke simply vanished.

"I don't know," stuttered Hinata.

"Hmm, I know, let's go see Ikugachi-san," said Naruto excitedly, "I haven't visited him for a while now."

Hinata nodded though she didn't know who Ikugachi-san was.

Naruto led her through town until they arrived at a small weapon smith. Naruto entered the shop and signaled Hinata to follow him in.

"Hello Naruto," said the old smithy, "I haven't seen you for a long time."

"I've been busy. Anyway, how's business?"

"Not bad, I've had several ANBU in recently asking about that sword you made way back when. I guess Hayate-san has been bragging about the quality quite a bit," said Ikugachi, "They want to know if you've made other weapons like it."

"Nah, I don't make my weapon to sell. They are just for fun. That reminds me, I was hoping I could make another one if that's okay?"

"Of course, what do you plan to make this time?" asked Ikugachi excitedly.

"Well, you once told me that Kakashi-sensei used a fang. I was thinking I'd make one for him as a present," said Naruto with a grin.

"Certainly, but if I'm going to give you the materials you'll have to make something for the shop to sell as well," said Ikugachi.

"Alright," said Naruto, "Do you want to help me Hinata?"

"I couldn't . . ." she began to mumble.

"Sure you can," said Naruto, "It is hard work, but it will help you get stronger quickly."

Hinata was doubtful of her ability.

"Don't worry Hyuga-san," said Ikugachi, "Naruto-kun will be doing the hardest part."

Hinata then nodded, albeit reluctantly.

"Great, let's get to it. Fang's aren't that difficult to make as they are small. The difficult part is the chakra seals," said Naruto with a grin as he pealed off his black long sleeve shirt revealing only a black sleeveless undershirt. He had very well toned armed from what Hinata could see, not that she was staring or anything. "Anyway, Ikugachi-sensei will get you started."

Ikugachi nodded and showed Hinata how to work the bellows and what to look for with the fire while Naruto set to work folding the good steel into a blade. Hinata was amazed at how tough the work was and she knew that she'd be sore the next day but it all seemed worthwhile to her, especially if she was going to get stronger.

Just as Naruto said, it didn't take very long to make the blade but then he started with the seals. Hinata had never seen anything so complicated in her life than the sealing pattern that Naruto was using.

"I can see you've studied up on Fang designs and their chakra patterns," said Ikugachi studying the seal before he saw an oddity, "What's this seal for?"

"Well, you know how I have two chakra's right? Well, the second chakra tends to be very violent, almost to the point of overwhelming the senses. So, I've got to put that control seal in to eliminate that feeling and still allow the second chakra's strengthening effect to work properly," explained Naruto as he began the final sealing process.

"Very interesting Naruto," said Ikugachi appreciatively. Naruto really did do excellent work. The blade was perfect and he made it so quickly, still nothing was lost in the power of the blade. It wasn't nearly as complex as the first sword Naruto ever made.

"Excellent work Naruto," said Ikugachi, "However, it has gotten rather late and I'm sure that Hiashi-sama will be worried about his daughter."

"Can I make the second weapon next week?" asked Naruto as he tested his now completed Chakra Fang.

"Of course, now run along you scamp," said Ikugachi with a broad smile at the thought of being able to sell another of Naruto's masterpieces.

Naruto walked Hinata home. He earned a rather scolding look from Hiashi, but Naruto could tell that it was out of worry for Hinata's safety and not for the fact that he was a demon vessel.

"See you tomorrow Naruto-kun," said Hinata without much of a stutter. At some point that day she'd become much more comfortable around Naruto without noticing it.

"Just remember to eat, you know that pervert is going to be late anyway," said Naruto with a grin.

Hinata nodded and smiled at Naruto's antics.

It was a smile that was not missed by Hiashi either.

Naruto arrived the next morning to the training grounds on time. Originally he planned to show up later than Kakashi but he forgot to tell Hinata to do the same thing. Besides, he was already up well before then training his Taijutsu with Gai.

"Morning Hinata," said Naruto stifling a yawn. He was tired from his workout, not from a lack of sleep.

"Morning Naruto-kun," replied Hinata. Naruto could see that she'd been up early training as well. Then he noticed a bit of soot on her coat.

"Did you go to Ikugachi's this morning?" asked Naruto.

Hinata looked slightly panicked, "I . . . um . . . thought that . . . but my father . . ."

"That's great Hinata, Ikugachi can teach you a lot and it is really good exercise," said Naruto proudly, "Don't worry, I won't tell your father. If you want, I'll even cover for you and say that you were training with me in the morning."

Hinata smile with a few tears in her eyes and bowed her head appreciatively. She knew that if her father ever found out she was learning such a thing that he'd be very cross with her.

"Hey now, what did I say about the being so formal stuff?" asked Naruto.

Hinata looked up with a slight blush, "I'm trying," she mumbled.

"Well, keep trying, you'll get there," said Naruto with a smile. Unfortunately that smile instantly vanished with the Uchiha-Bastard showed up.

Neither Naruto nor Hinata said anything to him when he arrived. Hinata was honestly scared of what Sasuke might do to her if she did befriend him. Naruto just hated him.

Unfortunately Naruto knew what was coming and sighed heavily. "Uchiha, I don't like you and you don't like me but we have a problem. Kakashi-sensei is going to test us and he is probably going to test us on teamwork somehow. But first I imagine he'll do something to divide us. So, I would like to propose an agreement. We work together this one time to become official Genin and then we can hate each other again as if nothing ever happened."

Sasuke was actually considering Naruto's words but then he remembered that Naruto hated him as was probably just saying that to pull another one over on him, "No."

Naruto sighed, "Fine. I guess Hinata and I will pass this test without you." Naruto knew that would irk Sasuke more than anything and yet he didn't react.

It was hours later before the pervert finally showed up, "Sorry I'm late, there was this old lady and she . . ."

"LIAR," yelled Naruto at the pervert.

"Anyway, today is your final Genin Exam."

"What are we doing?" asked Sasuke.

"You just need to get a bell from me to pass," said Kakashi with a shrug.

"But there are only two bells," stuttered Hinata.

"That's right, so one of you will definitely be going back to the academy," said Kakashi, "Oh, and you only have until noon." He then set an alarm clock on one of the stumps.

"Go," said Kakashi as he vanished.

The three disappeared from view.

Naruto and Hinata went to the same place.

"You were right Naruto-kun, he did try to divide us from the start," said Hinata with only the slightest stutter.

"So how do we get that Uchiha-Bastard to work with us?" asked Naruto.

"But, we don't need him to pass," said Hinata.

"Unfortunately we do," said Naruto, "All Genin teams are to be three man cells. Without that bastard we're only two."

"Oh," said Hinata slightly embarrassed for herself.

"Don't worry, not many can figure that out. Uchiha-Bastard is supposed to be a genius and yet hasn't figured it out. As you can see he's getting his ass handed to him by Kakashi-sensei," said Naruto pointing over his shoulder where Sasuke had just been buried up to his neck.

"So what do we do?" asked Hinata.

"We work together and hope for the best," said Naruto with a grimace.

"We should have a plan then," said Hinata.

"Yeah, you and I are both strongest in Taijutsu so we'll have to attack from that angle," said Naruto, "Do you think if I kept him busy you'd be able to close the Tenketsu in one arm and a leg?"

"I can try but I'm not very good," said Hinata.

"You're a Genin Hinata, you're not supposed to be very good yet. I'm not even that good yet and I've been training for a very long time. He's a Jounin for a reason Hinata. He doesn't expect us to win or even come close, but we've got to try," said Naruto encouragingly.

Hinata smiled slightly at Naruto's words, they weren't the most convincing but they did make her feel better about the situation. "Okay, then we'll do our best."

Naruto smiled at Hinata's words, "Now that's more like, let's go."

Naruto and Hinata both moved in quickly to attack.

Kakashi wasn't too surprised that these two worked together. He'd listened to their entire planning session and their discussion while they were waiting for him to arrive. He was however surprised when Naruto attacked using his old sensei's Taijutsu style. His moves were a bit sloppy but they were better than Genin level for Taijutsu. Hinata attacked predictably with the Gentle fist though she was very sloppy in her movements. Kakashi could see that skill wasn't her problem but more her confidence. Each of her strikes was slightly hesitant.

The pair attacked him with pretty good teamwork. However, their attacks were uncoordinated and didn't flow together the way most successful teams worked together. He knew though that if they trained together more often they would develop a very complimentary style of fighting.

While Hinata and Naruto were fighting to gain position and the right opportunity to grab the bells the sneaky Uchiha-Bastard came in and took a bell then retreated.

"Bastard," screamed Naruto after the retreating form of the Uchiha.

"Don't worry about him Naruto-kun," said Hinata as she continued to fight Kakashi, "I need your help here."

Naruto refocused his energy on Kakashi and helping Hinata.

"You two don't have to continue fighting me," said Kakashi as he continued to parry their attacks, "You've already passed."

"I know," said Naruto with a grin, "But this is kind of fun."

Hinata was shocked but then she realized she too was having fun. For the first time ever, she was having fun fighting. It wasn't training or trying to get stronger. It was just fighting for the sake of competition and it was fun. "Yeah, it is."

Kakashi smiled and continued to fight the pair even increasing the intensity with which he fought. "Naruto, who taught you this fighting style?"

"Gai-sensei has been training me in Taijutsu since I was six," said Naruto with a smile, "I'm not very good yet but I'm getting better."

"You're certainly not bad with the style," said Kakashi, "A few more years and you'll probably master it."

"I hope so," said Naruto, "Learning anything that was once the Yondaime's is so cool. It is kind of like honoring his sacrifice by carrying on his knowledge, you know?"

Kakashi smiled fondly at the boy, "You're absolutely right Naruto."

Hinata was amazed that Naruto and Kakashi were having a conversation while fighting so intensely at the same time. It took every last bit of her concentration just to stay in the fight. She suddenly realized what it meant to be a genius or rather as Naruto preferred to say, 'gifted'.

"You know that alarm went off about twenty minutes ago?" asked Kakashi as he ducked a particularly vicious kick to his head, "I'm sure Sasuke is wondering where we are."

"But I haven't even hit you yet," said Naruto with a slight pout.

"And you probably won't," said Kakashi, "I'm sure you can tell that I'm not trying very hard."

"I know," said Naruto with a pout before jumping away effectively ending the fight.

Hinata breathed a sigh of relief. She didn't know how much longer she could keep up. As it was she'd stopped trying to hit tenketsu because she would have completely depleted all of her chakra reserves.

"Come on, let's go meet Sasuke so I can officially graduate you all," said Kakashi.

"Why are they still here?" asked Sasuke, "They don't the bells so they fail right?"

"No, they are the only ones that understood the real purpose of the test, teamwork. However, I did say that if you got a bell you would pass. So, congratulations, you've all passed my test," said Kakashi, "Meet me by the aqueduct tomorrow at 9:00 to start our real missions."

"Wait a second Kakashi-sensei," said Naruto stopping the pervert from disappearing.

"Yes Naruto," said Kakashi.

"Hinata and I have a gift for you," said Naruto taking out small bundle of red silk, "Ikugachi-sensei once told me that you used to use a Chakra Fang but it broke on a mission. He didn't tell me much about it. Anyway, I made this for you." Naruto then held out the red silk bundle.

Kakashi looked curiously at the bundle and took it from Naruto to reveal a crimson red tube. It was a fang and sheath.

"I give you the 'Kyubi's Fang'," said Naruto with a smile, "Hinata help me make it so it's from the both of us."

Kakashi grasped the hand and pulled free the blade. He was in awe. This was even higher quality than his father's old Chakra Fang. It was perfectly balanced and it received Chakra perfectly. "Naruto, this is . . ."

"Anyway, Hinata and I have some celebrating to do," said Naruto grabbing her hand and disappearing with her.

Kakashi was now staring at the empty field. He never believed he would wield a chakra fang again but he knew now that would not be the case. He was truly blessed with outstanding students.

**BREAK**

"Naruto-kun," said Hinata, "Why did you say it was from me too?"

"You helped me make it," said Naruto, "So it was from both of us."

Hinata smiled and nodded, "Thank you Naruto-kun."

"No problem," said Naruto with a grin, "Want to get some Ramen?"

Hinata nodded and followed Naruto through town to his favorite Ramen stand. Together they ate Ramen noodles and talked a bit.

"I've always been interested in healing but father would never approve," said Hinata with only a slight stutter.

"Why does your father have to approve? If you want to become stronger you should do what ever you feel is right. If learning healing will make you stronger than learn healing," said Naruto confidently.

"But I don't even know where to begin," said Hinata defeated.

"Okay then, next stop is Konoha Hospital," said Naruto, "We'll go to the Hospital Library. They have hundreds of scroll on healing and the human body. If you want to learn healing that is the best place to start. Besides, I doubt your father would be bothered much he saw you studying anatomy at home. You could just say that you were learning better ways to use the Gentle Fist. Any scroll with Healing Jutsu you could just stash in my apartment and study them after daily training or something."

"You really think that would work?" asked Hinata shyly.

"Of course it would," said Naruto, "Your father is smart enough that he would let you learn whatever you want as long as you maintain your image for the clan and the clan elders."

Hinata was shocked that Naruto could say such a thing about her father. It was unbelievable, and more than that she thought he might be correct.

"Anyway, let's go," said Naruto paying for their noodles and leading the way to the hospital library. Once inside Naruto found a medic-nin to recommend some good scrolls for Hinata to begin studying. He didn't really like Naruto and at first he didn't want to help until he learned that it was for a Hyuga.

Hinata thought it was odd that the medic-nin wanted nothing to do with Naruto but was only too happy to help Hinata. But then no many people were ever very nice to Naruto and she couldn't understand why. Even so, he never once let it bother him.

Once they were on their way to Naruto's apartment to drop of the Jutsu scrolls, Hinata decided to ask him about it.

"Naruto-kun, how can you stand the way people treat you?" she asked timidly.

"Precious people," Naruto answered with a giant smile before continuing on.

"What do you mean?" she asked curiously.

"Who really cares what everyone else thinks? I've got my precious people and that is enough to make me happy," said Naruto.

Hinata didn't quite understand but followed behind nonetheless. However, her mind was a whirl with this new information.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of the characters created by Kishimoto-sensei.

The next few weeks progress just as they were supposed. Lots of D class missions and training with a side of complaining from Naruto.

Hinata's perspective had improved greatly. For the first time in her life she was truly enjoying herself. Working in the forge every morning was improving her strength rapidly. She was a sponge for medical information and when her father found her with an anatomy scroll he actually compliment her initiative for wanting to learn to make her Gentle Fist more effective. He even smiled at her. It was one of the best moments in her young life.

Sasuke was still a bastard and did nothing to improve their teamwork, not surprising really. He had yet to activate his Sharingan which was something of a sore spot for him when Naruto would taunt him about it.

Naruto though simply thrived now that he made it to Genin. It was unfortunate but unless you were a Genin you could not access the Shinobi Library's Jutsu Scrolls. Sure as a Genin he could only access C and D class Jutsu but it built a solid foundation for Naruto to learn the more advance stuff later. He made sure to learn a D and C level Fire, Water, Earth, and Wind Jutsu. If more were available at that level and they were even a little useful he made sure to learn them well. Naruto though never really let on in training as to how much he really knew. He also spent more time with Ikugachi-san learning more about throwing weapons and throwing techniques. Ikugachi even taught him a bit about using Chakra strings with kunai and shuriken.

As expected, Kakashi spent more time watching over Sasuke and concentrating on his training. But now that Naruto understood why, he didn't mind nearly as much as he once did. Even still, Kakashi taught them as a team more techniques that were useful. Kakashi also spent time working out strategies for them to use in combat given that Sasuke would attack without regard to his teammates safety.

Naruto and Hinata spent a lot of time together training. They had become very good friends as a result. They worked hard to make their Taijutsu work together in harmony and compliment each other's style. Kakashi actually found himself having to get a bit more serious when he would train the pair in their team Taijutsu.

"What's the date?" asked Naruto to Hinata as they were standing in front of the Hokage waiting for their mission assignment.

"The fifth," said Hinata clearly. She'd lost her stutter when speaking to Naruto some time ago.

"Already?" he asked.

Hinata nodded.

"Hey, old man," yelled Naruto to the Hokage, "Give us a C mission. Maybe escort duty or something. We need a challenge."

"Naruto, Genin all receive D missions until they have completed 15 missions before they get there first C mission," said the Hokage.

"We've done 16 D missions," said Naruto, "Give us a C already."

The Hokage checked his notes and he found that Naruto was indeed correct. Naruto's team had been doing a lot of double mission days since they first started.

"So you have," said the Hokage before selecting a C rank mission scroll and tossing it to Naruto, "It's just an escort mission to wave country. It'll probably be boring, but it'll get you out of my hair for a while so I guess you can have it."

"Thanks," said Naruto with a grin, "So, what are we escorting? Food supplies, workers, a shipment of rare and invaluable jewels that are wanted by an evil organization of super jewel thieving ninja?"

"A bridge builder," said Kakashi. He couldn't help but laugh at Naruto's over-active imagination.

"That'll work I guess," said Naruto with a small pout.

"Kids, you're assigning kids to guard me," said an old man that reeked of alcohol.

"A drunken old man?" questioned Naruto observing the man.

"Who's the shorty?" asked the bridge builder.

"Uzumaki Naruto, future Hokage of Konoha," shouted Naruto, "Whose asking?"

"Tazuna, the super bridge builder, and I don't care what your future is, you're short," replied the old man before taking a long pull on his sake bottle.

"Can I kill him?" Naruto asked to Kakashi while Sasuke just snorted arrogantly.

"If you did we would fail the mission," said Kakashi simply.

"Fine," said Naruto, "Let's get going."

"Meet at the gates in an hour," said Kakashi, "Bring some study material. We'll be spending a bit of time on guard duty while he finishes that bridge and it is likely to be rather boring."

"Yes sir," said Naruto as he and Hinata left. First they went to Hinata's estate to collect the things she'd need for the mission before they went to Naruto's to collect his things and some healing scrolls for Hinata.

It wasn't much later that the pair was waiting at the gates for Sasuke and Kakashi to arrive with the bridge builder.

"Hinata, promise that no matter what happens you'll protect Tazuna. Never leave his side while we are traveling to wave. It would be very easy for us to get distracted fighting bandits or something and leave the old man unprotect to get killed," said Naruto seriously.

"Of course Naruto-kun," said Hinata, "Just promise me you won't do anything too reckless."

"I promise," said Naruto, "I never back down on my promises."

"That's our nindo," said Hinata with a smile.

This time Naruto just nodded and smiled.

Finally the other arrived and they were off.

"It's only about a day's journey to my village. It is just on the border of wave country and fire country," explained Tazuna once they were out the gates. Naruto and Kakashi could both sense how nervous Tazuna was but didn't say anything.

They walked on and passed by the same out of place water puddle that Naruto remember. Kakashi could tell that Naruto spotted it but didn't say anything to him. He wanted to see two things. Were these shinobi after his team or Tazuna and second he wanted to see how well his team reacted to the situation.

The two exploded out of the water puddle and wrapped a long chain around Kakashi before ripping him to shreds.

Hinata panicked for only second before she saw through the illusion left by the Kawarimi. Naruto's words came back to her and she immediately placed herself between the shinobi and Tazuna.

Sasuke did what Sasuke does and attacked without think it through very carefully. He quickly disabled their cutting-chain and then went to work on just one of them ignoring the other.

Naruto watched calmly as everything happened. He honestly could have left the Uchiha-Bastard to get killed but unfortunately, Naruto needed him until he became a Chuunin.

Once Sasuke had separated the fools Naruto went after the other shinobi. Naruto simply defended himself until Kakashi decided to step in. After a minute Naruto decided that Kakashi wasn't going to step in and dealt a massive blow to the gut of the ninja he was fighting knocking him out instantly.

"Not very good were they?" asked Kakashi from behind Naruto. He had the other demon brother under his arm.

"Not really, but better than regular Genin. Good thing we're not normal right?"

Kakashi actually laughed, "Right you are."

"Well, we should tie them up here and leave them for the Hunter-nin," said Naruto as he began to tie the brothers to a tree.

"Well, at least know who they were really after," said Kakashi. For whatever reason, Kakashi seemed to treat Naruto more like an equal than as a student. It was mostly because Naruto was smart enough to understand even if he wasn't as strong as a Jounin.

"Tazuna-san has some explaining to do," said Naruto as he finished the last knot.

"I can explain," said Tazuna as he launched into a long explanation about the Gatou Trade Company and its strangling of wave country's economy.

"This mission is above C level," said Kakashi addressing his team, "It is likely, Gatou will send at least a Jounin level missing-nin next time. I can't force you all to take this mission so I'll leave it up to you."

"We accepted the mission knowing this could happen," said Naruto, "I say we finish what we've started."

"I'm scared but I agree with Naruto," said Hinata with a stutter, "We promised to protect Tazuna-san and we don't break our promises."

"That's our nindo," said Naruto confidently.

"Sasuke?" questioned Kakashi.

Sasuke grunted which could only be interpreted as a yes.

"So be it," said Kakashi, "But if a Jounin does show up, protect Tazuna-san at all costs and I will handle it."

They all nodded while thinking the exact opposite except for Hinata who had promised Naruto.

"Then let's move out," said Kakashi.

Naruto hated mist, he really did. So when the super thick mist rolled in out of nowhere they knew trouble was brewing.

"Down," yelled Kakashi. Naruto pulled Hinata and Tazuna to the ground hard just in time to dodge the massive blade that just flew over them.

Naruto was up right was and in a defensive position surrounding Tazuna.

"A copy-nin Kakashi," said the man standing on the massive blade which was now embedded in a tree.

"Zabuza, Devil of the Mist," said Kakashi revealing his single Sharingan eye.

"Protect Tazuna-san," said Kakashi as he moved to engage the missing-nin.

It became a duel of Mizu Bunshin. Kakashi would destroy one just to be destroyed. They must have done this a dozen times before as Naruto was expecting Kakashi was kicked into the water and trapped in a water prison.

"Run," ordered Kakashi.

"Do you really think we'd leave you behind?" asked Naruto, "Especially after all that about those who leave behind their teammates being worse than trash. We're not leaving here without you."

"He's a bold one," said Zabuza with a laugh, "Let's see how he fares against one of my Mizu Bunshin."

Sasuke attacked first and as a result ended up pinned to the ground with one of Zabuza's feet crushing his ribcage.

"I suppose I should save the bastard," said Naruto to Hinata, "Remember your promise."

"You too," said Hinata taking up a solitary defensive position. She knew that there was at least one person hiding nearby watching them, she'd only caught a glance with her Byakugan before whoever it was disappeared.

Naruto nodded before smiling. He made a single hand seal, "Gravity Release." Naruto glowed purple for a moment. "Now the fun shit starts."

The real Zabuza wasn't sure what was really happening until Naruto suddenly vanished from sight, not even a dust trail signaling that he was moving. Suddenly Naruto appeared right in front of him driving his now gloved fist into his stomach. He could feel thin blades cutting into his stomach and cutting upwards towards his lungs. He lost concentration right there allowing the Mizu Bunshin to dissolve along with the water prison. He jumped away from the pair in shock as he saw blood on his hand from the gash in his stomach.

The boy didn't even have visible claws on the gloves knuckles that he could see. Naruto was smirking confidently as Kakashi stood up next to him and shook a bit of water out of his hair.

"Can I finish him Sensei?" asked Naruto excitedly.

Kakashi wasn't too sure what to think of this Naruto. Any time he'd fought Naruto in the past he was nowhere near this fast. Not only that but it seemed as if his chakra reserves tripled without any help from the Kyubi.

"No, I'll handle this. I owe him. You should worry about the other one trying to sneak up on Hinata," said Kakashi.

"She's already seen him," said Naruto, "But you're the boss." Naruto vanished from the surface of the water.

Haku was almost upon the bridge builder when he heard Kakashi talking about him. Panic suddenly set in, he had been discovered even though he was all but invisible in this fog.

Naruto suddenly appeared beside him and delivered a bone crushing back-fist shattering his mask and his nose. Then before he could react he felt several small taps to different spots on his body. He couldn't move. His legs and arms were completely disabled.

"Good job Hinata," said Naruto.

"I missed most of them," she said slightly disappointed in herself.

"So, you hit enough that he won't be moving for a few days," said Naruto proud of her accomplishment. "Besides, you've got to start somewhere. That wasn't bad for your first attempt."

"Thank you Naruto-kun," said Hinata, "Should I heal Uchiha-san?"

"No, protect Tazuna until this fight is completely over," said Naruto ending the discussion as he joined her in defending the old man.

"What the hell is that boy?" asked Zabuza as he coughed up a bit of blood.

"He's gifted," said Kakashi before he chuckled, "I didn't even know he was that fast. He's never shown me that kind of speed before."

"So, he is your tool just as Haku was mine," said Zabuza, "I shall enjoy killing him once you're dead." Zabuza then sank into the water and vanished without a trace leaving Haku behind.

"You let him escape," yelled Naruto with a pout.

"He'll be back, besides, we have his tool," said Kakashi looking at the tied up boy.

"Tool?" asked Naruto.

"That's what Zabuza called the boy. You'll find that many people think of shinobi as only tools with no real value," explained Kakashi, "Where is Sasuke?"

Naruto pointed to the unconscious lump, "I think he has a few broken limbs."

"Can you heal him Hinata?" asked Kakashi.

"I don't know how to mend bones yet," said Hinata apologetically.

"Don't worry about it then," said Kakashi, "Let's just get him somewhere he can rest and heal."

"Yes sensei," said Naruto and Hinata together before setting to work.

A few hours later Sasuke was taped up to support his damaged ribs and resting well thanks to a sedative Hinata had made.

In the interim Kakashi was interrogating Haku trying to gain whatever information he could from the boy but he wasn't really talking much to his annoyance. He wished Ibiki was there.

"Any idea when we can expect Zabuza to attack?" asked Naruto once Kakashi returned.

"I would guess as soon as he's healed. Nearest as I can tell Haku is a medic-nin so Zabuza will have to heal himself which could take a month," said Kakashi.

"Unless Haku was to escape," said Naruto with a devious glint, "Then we could expect him to attack in maybe a week or two."

"Like if someone was to leave a glass of water unattended accidentally," said Kakashi.

"Oh Tsunami-chan," called Naruto.

**BREAK**

"Can you do it Tsunami-chan?" asked Naruto.

"So just give him a drink and accidentally forget the water," said Tsunami.

"Yes, but he has to believe that you didn't leave the water on purpose," said Kakashi, "If he suspects anything, he'll stay here and then we'll have no idea when Zabuza will attack."

"He won't hurt you Tsunami-chan," said Naruto, "Kakashi-sensei and I will be watching the entire time from an unseen location, okay?"

Tsunami nodded, "Anything to get this conflict ended."

"Thank you Tsunami-chan," said Naruto with a big smile.

Tsunami stood and took the glass of water out to the shed where Haku was being held.

"Hinata, watch her closely," instructed Kakashi with only a slight bit of worry showing in his voice.

"She's in," said Hinata watching carefully, "She's given him the water. She's talking with him now. She set the water on the crate next to her. She's still talking. She's leaving."

Tsunami entered the house moments later. Once she was inside she fell back against the door breathing heavily trying to calm her nerves.

"You did really good Tsunami-chan," said Kakashi comforting the shaken women.

"He's making one-handed sealed to change the water," said Hinata in disbelief.

"He's got a blood limit," said Naruto angrily, "Shit."

"It's too late, we have to carry through with this plan," said Kakashi.

"He's formed some sort of ice mirror and entered it. He gone, I couldn't even see him move. Just another ice mirror and then another," explained Hinata.

"He's much more dangerous than I originally though," said Kakashi, "But not to worry. Now we can plan our counter attack much more carefully."

So for the next two weeks Hinata and Naruto would act as Tazuna's shadow everywhere he went. It was the middle of the third week that Zabuza attacked. It was a good day for it too as Kakashi had accompanied them to the bridge that day.

"So, Kakashi, you've come back for more," said Zabuza, "I'm sorry but I'm not going to play today. I'm just going to kill you all."

"Naruto, take care of Haku quickly just like we planned," ordered Kakashi, "Hinata, track Zabuza through the mist and tell me where I'm going."

Naruto began to walk away from the group paralleled by Haku.

"This one is between us," said Naruto, "No need to involve them."

"One genius to another," said Haku.

"I hate that term," said Naruto, "I refuse to call myself a genius. I am gifted, simple as that."

"Fine then, but your gifts will not save you today," said Haku vanishing in a blur of speed.

Naruto easily ducked and dodged all of Haku's attacks, "You're a bit on the slow side."

Haku growled in frustration before he stared a set of one-handed seals. Naruto was surrounded by ice mirrors, "Ah, this little trick. I'm afraid I'm going to have to smash these mirrors."

"These mirrors are unbreakable except by my will," boasted an irritated Haku.

"Whatever," said Naruto as he pulled on his Chakra Gloves. Naruto let the chakra flow through his body and even faster than Haku could move using his mirrors Naruto shattered two of them to Haku's disbelief. Naruto vanished again this time shattering six more of his mirrors. "Running out of mirrors and you haven't even started attacking me yet," taunted Naruto before he attacked again causing three more mirrors to shatter.

At this point Haku only had three mirrors left and not nearly enough chakra to rebuild all of his lost mirrors.

"Surrender or die Haku," said Naruto, "I understand that you only want to protect your precious person but to him you are only a tool. Not even worthy of being called a comrade."

"He saved me," said Hake angrily as he finally attacked even though Naruto easily dodged the attack.

"He saved you to use to his own ends," said Naruto, "You don't have to be his tool to repay him. You've already repaid him a hundred times over for all the times you've saved his life since."

"I will die if I must to protect him," said Haku who was starting to get upset.

"Then you will die and it will have been for nothing, for it will still not save his life. I know that true strength comes from protecting those you love Haku. But sometimes, even that is not enough," said Naruto sadly.

Naruto then heard the Chidori chirping like a 1000 birds.

"Haku, Kakashi-sensei is about to kill Zabuza. If you interfere, I will have to kill you," said Naruto.

"Then you will have to kill me," screamed Haku in a strained voice as she jumped into a mirror try and save Zabuza before it was too late.

Naruto rushed down the bridge faster than Haku was able to and pushed the boy out of the way.

Haku screamed like a girl at the sight of her dead master.

Haku was enraged with grief and blurred from vision to appear behind Hinata and hold a Kunai to her throat.

"You took my precious person now I will take yours," said Haku threateningly.

"I'm sorry Haku," said Naruto sadly as he looked to the bridge in pity. When he looked up again, he locked eyes with Haku causing paralysis and making him completely unable to move. Naruto's eyes were blood red and animalistic. It was the killer intent that radiated from them that completely paralyzed Haku.

Haku suddenly felt the world around him turn black and white. He was no longer holding Hinata prisoner. Instead he was in white marble hall way.

"**Come**** this way child,**" said voice at the end of the hall.

Haku followed the voice to see a giant cage. The metal bars were rapped in very intricate gold patterns. It looked very regal and of the highest quality. Haku finally asked, "What is this? Where am I?"

"**Come inside child, I will show you the way to freedom,**" said a deep voice from within the cage.

Haku obeyed without thinking and entered the cage. Once he was inside the cage he realized his mistake. Before him was a demon fox with nine swaying tails. The fox bared its teeth menacing. A low rolling chuckle came from the demon.

In the outside world Haku dropped the kunai and grabbed his head screaming and trying and then moving as if trying to fight off an invisible enemy. Large cuts and gashes began to manifest all over his body before finally his throat was slit and collapsed in a puddle of blood.

Naruto sighed heavily before closing his eyes. When he opened them again they were once again the normal vibrant blue.

"Naruto?" question Kakashi, "What was that?"

"A Genjutsu, a forbidden one," said Naruto, "Soul of the Slaying Demon."

Kakashi swallowed nervously. It was so similar to the Mangekyou Sharingan but this one was able to inflict real wounds and damage upon the victim.

Naruto then dropped to his knees breathing heavily, "Uses way too much Chakra though.

Hinata looked confused for a minute and also horrified that such a terrible Genjutsu existed. Then her face changed to one of concern as Naruto dropped to his knees.

"Naruto-kun," said Hinata worried.

"Ah, it's okay Hinata," said Naruto, "I just need a minute to regain my balance."

"Naruto, can that be used on anyone?" asked Kakashi.

"No, it relies heavily on the emotional state of the victim. Only if the victim is afraid or feeling a profound sense of loss will it work, also, the target must have a weak will for it to be able to kill them.," explained Naruto breathing heavily.

"Well, well done Naruto," said Kakashi, "I guess we're lucky that worked. Are you okay Hinata-san?"

"Yes sensei," said Hinata, "Just a small scratch." She then healed the small cut on her throat really quickly.

With Zabuza and Haku both dead, the mist was now quickly clearing revealing a rather large group of samurai thugs getting off of a Gatou Shipping Co. boat all lead by a short man in a cheap brown suit.

"Any suggestions?" asked Naruto when pointing to the thugs.

"Kill Gatou and a dozen of the thugs then the rest should retreat," said Kakashi making a few quick hand seals created a dozen clones. "Kill them," he ordered the clones which then charged down the bridge slicing through several samurai at once. "Hinata, would you please collect Mr. Gatou."

"Who?"

"The man in the brown suit," said Kakashi pointing at the fleeing man.

Hinata nodded slightly worried but charged down the bridge anyway. She came back a few minutes later dragging a bleeding Gatou. Hinata had apparently not been very gentle with the man.

"Here he is Kakashi-sensei," said Hinata letting go of the quivering screaming lump of a man.

"Thank you Hinata, please take Naruto and Tazuna to safety, I'll clean up the rest of this mess," said Kakashi.

Hinata did as he ordered knowing full well that Kakashi was trying to protect her and Naruto from having to kill.

"Hinata, are you alright?" asked Naruto as soon as they were a safe distance.

"I'm fine Naruto-kun, really," said Hinata as she checked him over for injuries. "Are you?"

"Perfect," said Naruto, "Just tired."

"What about Gatou?" asked Tazuna, "What is he doing with him?"

"He's probably killing him," said Naruto, "He attacked us in person leading that army of thugs. Standard operating procedure dictates that the leader of a non-shinobi army or group should be eliminated first to cause disorder among the ranks. Soldiers aren't taught to think for themselves like ninja are so they won't know what to do with themselves."

"Gatou is dead?" said Tazuna as if a dream had come true.

"Yes sir," said Naruto, "Or he will be soon."

"So this means you can finish the bridge without any difficulty," said Hinata looking to Tazuna.

"Yep," said Naruto, "It also means that as soon as this bridge is built, we'll be able to go back home."

**BREAK**

It was another month before the bridge was finished. Kakashi let them stay for the bridge opening festival. He also used it as an opportunity to catch Sasuke up on his training since he'd been injured.

Naruto and Hinata enjoyed themselves. They helped out at the bridge a bit everyday to help with their strength training. For the most part they avoided Sasuke like the plague despite Kakashi's futile attempts to get them to train together a bit. Naruto and Hinata both already knew the tree climbing exercise as well as water walking so it was futile to get them to try learning it again along side of Sasuke.

Sasuke continued to isolate himself from the others becoming more and more obsessed with his own strength. He was clearly becoming delusional but there was little they could about it at this point other than try and keep him reigned in a bit.

"Home at last," said Naruto when the giant gates to the village came into view.

Hinata nodded and smiled.

Sasuke though just snorted in disgust.

"Stay calm," Hinata cut off the confrontation that was no doubt brewing between Naruto and Sasuke, "We'll be home in an hour and then you don't have to see him for a few days, right sensei?"

"That's right Hinata," said Kakashi trying to help. The last few days now that Sasuke was back to normal and getting special treatment from Kakashi the tension between the pair had been growing to a boiling point, even more so when Sasuke activated his Sharingan at long last.

Naruto huffed and walked a bit ahead of the group. Hinata never left his side the whole way.

"Stupid Uchiha-Bastard thinks he's so great," grumbled Naruto under his breath though Hinata heard him clearly.

"Ignore the Uchiha-Bastard Naruto-kun, you're better than he'll ever be and you and I both know it," said Hinata trying to cheer him up.

It worked.

"Hinata," said Naruto in disbelief, "Did you just call him Uchiha-Bastard?"

Hinata blushed slightly, "It's your fault."

"I don't care whose fault it is. I'm really proud of you for calling him that. I'm not the only one to think so now," said Naruto, "Thank you."

"You're welcome Naruto-kun," said Hinata blushing a bit, "Naruto-kun?"

"Yes."

"Naruto-kun, why don't you ever call me Hinata-chan?" she asked shyly.

"Most girls don't like when I say those kinds of things," he answered honestly.

"I would . . . I mean I would like it if you did," said Hinata stuttering and blushing.

Naruto smiled at the girl, "Thank you Hinata-chan."

Hinata smiled so brightly at being called that by Naruto. It made her day and then some.

"Well, we'll meet up again in a few days," said Kakashi leaving his team behind to file his report.

"Well, first I need to find Gai-sensei," said Naruto, "You want to come with me Hinata-chan?"

Hinata nodded. It was going to take her some time to get used to being called Hinata-chan by the object of her affection.

Naruto found Gai ending his team's training day.

"Hey Gai-sensei," said Naruto with a wave hello.

"Naruto," shouted Gai, "My other passionate student, welcome back from what must have been a most successful mission."

"It was," said Naruto, "the Uchiha-Bastard got his ribs broken the first day out. It was the best our team has ever worked together with him incapacitated."

"Naruto, your passion is wonderful but you must care greatly for your teammates," chided Lee out loud and then when Gai was looking away Lee whispered, "I wish I could have been the ones to break his ribs."

Naruto and Hinata both laughed at that.

Finally, Neji and Tenten left but not before Neji gave Hinata the evil eye. Once his back was turned Hinata stuck her tongue out at him causing Naruto and Lee both to laugh.

"So Naruto my faithful student, what brings you here today?"

"Well, I had to remove the gravity Jutsu, don't worry though, I only did it to protect Hinata and Kakashi-sensei, so I was hoping you could put it back on me," said Naruto.

Gai smiled and gave Naruto his 'nice guy' pose before agreeing happily.

"Excuse me, Gai-san," said Hinata boldly, "Could you maybe put it on me as well?"

"Ah, the flames of youth burn brightly in Konoha," shouted Gai. Obviously he agreed. "Ah, but young flower, you must join us for our daily training exercises as well to completely fulfill the passion of your wondrous youth."

"But, I have to be at Ikugachi's place in the morning," said Hinata sadly.

"So, go to Ikugachi's in the afternoon and train with us in the morning. Keep a few changes of clothes at my place and then you just have to change before you go to Ikugachi's and again before you go home," said Naruto politely, "I already store several of your scrolls there anyway. Some of your clothes wouldn't be a problem too."

Hinata blushed furiously at the idea of changing her clothes in Naruto's apartment or using his shower to clean up afterwards. But, it did allow Hinata to get in all the training she wanted plus it let her spend more time with Naruto. "Okay," she mumbled weakly.

"Ah, the power of youth prevails once more," shouted Gai.

"Oh, Naruto-kun is such a kind and generous person. Truly his more worthy of my rivalry that Neji is," said Lee.

Naruto panicked for a moment, "No, Lee, your rivalry must be between yourself, a genius of hard work and a genius like Neji. I too am a genius of hard work so we cannot be rivals."

"Oh, once more Naruto-kun saves me from making a horrible mistake. Thank you Naruto-kun," shouted Lee.

In the background Gai was crying proudly of his students while Hinata just sweat dropped nervously.

"So we'll see you tomorrow morning," said Naruto waving good-bye to his extra sensei and Lee.

"They are so weird," whispered Hinata once they were a safe distance away.

"I know," said Naruto hanging his head, "But, there is no one in the village better with Taijutsu and training that Maito Gai."

"As long as we get stronger it will be worth it," said Hinata steeling her resolve for what was to come.

"How about we get some Ramen?" asked Naruto.

"Sure," said Hinata. Truthfully she was getting tired of Ramen but as long as she got to spend more time with Naruto she was happy.

After Ramen they went to the store for Hinata to buy some clothes to keep at Naruto's apartment. This way there was less chance of her father becoming suspicious if she was suddenly missing clothing. Naruto waited outside while she did her shopping. He really didn't feel like getting asked to leave a shop while he was with Hinata.

Later they dropped the stuff off at Naruto's apartment. Then they went by Ikugachi's Weapon Smith to inform him of Hinata's change in schedule, which of course he had no problem with it. After that they went to the library to get a few scrolls before Naruto finally walked Hinata back home.

"See you in the morning for training," said Naruto waving good-bye.

Hinata had hoped that maybe he would have done something more. After all they were both thirteen and that kind of thing was acceptable for their age. In the end she was disappointed but then she wasn't in any hurry as long as she got him in the end.

The next weeks fell into a routine of training and training and more training with the occasional mission thrown in for variety. And each night Naruto walked Hinata home and each night Hinata hoped for something that just didn't happen.


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of the characters created by Kishimoto-sensei.

"Okay team," said Kakashi starting the meeting. He didn't really agree with the Hokage's decision but at the same time he didn't want to hold back any of his students. "I've decided to nominate you for the Chuunin Exams that start in two weeks. You'll have that time off to yourself to train and think about whether or not you want to take the exam. If you want to take the test you have show up here on the test day," Kakashi handed them each an entrance form.

"Thank you Kakashi-sensei," said Naruto. He was truly surprised. He hadn't expected Kakashi to nominate them this time with how poor their teamwork was. On the other hand, their teamwork was bad the first time too. Then it occurred to Naruto that this was just another attempt to get the Uchiha-Bastard to stay.

"Well, see you," said Kakashi as he disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Sasuke just stalked away probably to meet Kakashi in some secret training location to prepare for the exam.

"What do you think Hinata-chan?" asked Naruto.

"I will if you're going," said Hinata however Naruto got a sour look on his face.

"No, then don't come," said Naruto, "I don't want you to come if you're coming for me. I want you to take the exam for yourself or not at all. You're ready for this Hinata but if you don't think you are then there is no point in you going. Think about it carefully. If you want to take the exam because you want to then I'll see you tomorrow morning for training. Gai-sensei is going to start prepping me and Lee for the exam then." Naruto then left Hinata standing alone in the training field with a lot to think about.

Hinata had never heard Naruto speak to her like that. He was almost mean to her, if not angry with her decision. But he was right. She would have taken the exam for him and not because she wanted to. So the question was, did she want to take the exam? She would be pushed farther than she ever had been before. If she went through with it and was successful she would have impressed her father a lot and maybe it would have been a start towards changing her clan at least a little bit at a time. Naruto would have been really proud of her if she chose to take this exam because she wanted to take it and not for him. It would be really dangerous and she may have been killed, but then she might have been killed in the mission to wave country but she came out of it fine because she trusted her sensei and one of her teammates just as they trusted her. She was very successful in that mission personally as she had executed her duties perfectly.

"Yes, I will take this exam because I want to pass. I want to prove that I am not the dead last. I want to prove to myself that I can be a great shinobi," said Hinata out loud and clear to the empty training field.

**BREAK**

Naruto left Hinata alone in that field. He truly wanted Hinata to take the test with him but he knew that she needed to do this because she wanted to, not because he asked her to.

Naruto walked aimlessly through the town before he finally noticed the square rock following him. With a sigh, he turned and threw the blunt end of a kunai at the box scaring the kids inside half to death making Naruto laugh hysterically.

"Hah, just as I'd expect from my rival," shouted Konohamaru as he pointed Naruto.

"Sorry about that Konohamaru but you really need to work on your camouflage techniques," said Naruto rubbing the kids head in a friendly way.

"Leader, will you play ninja with us?" asked Konohamaru with a big grin showing his recently lost tooth.

"Alright, but only for a little bit," said Naruto, "I've got more training to do today."

"Thank you Naruto-nichan," shouted Konohamaru as he, Moegi and Udon ran ahead of him and he gave chase.

Konohamaru was stopped short when he ran into someone wearing a black jumpsuit and face paint.

Naruto found Konohamaru lift in the air by his shirt by the foreign shinobi.

"Put him down please," said Naruto politely.

"This runt ran into me," said Kankuro, "I'm going to punish him. Maybe I'll only take a finger."

Naruto yawned, "Go for it. You'll not only be executed by the ANBU circling us and you'll cause in international incident between Suna and Konoha. With the peace treaty as strained as it is, do you really think that's a wise decision?"

Kankuro was suddenly looking around for the hidden ANBU but saw nothing. Then not very confidently he said, "Ha, you're bluffing. Why would ANBU care about this little runt?"

"They don't," said Naruto, "As standard protocol, one ANBU is assigned to every foreign test applicant during the Chuunin exams to protect the citizens."

Naruto was bluffing but Kankuro had no way to know that.

Kankuro dropped the kid, "Fine, I was just playing with him anyway."

"You can tell Shukaku to stop hiding now too," said Naruto once Konohamaru and his friends ran away.

Kankuro and Temari both just froze in place, eyes wide with terror.

In a whirl of sand Gaara appeared in front of Naruto.

"Hello Shukaku, or are you just a vessel," said Naruto.

"I am a vessel," said Gaara.

"Ah, yes, I can see that now. You're seal though is incomplete. Shukaku must be driving you mad. Not letting you sleep and all of that," said Naruto.

"How can you know such things?" Gaara asked.

"You're not the only demon vessel," whispered Naruto in Gaara's ear.

Gaara's eyes widened in surprise and maybe even a little fear.

"Want to join me for some Ramen?" offered Naruto to Gaara.

Gaara nodded though he wasn't sure exactly what Ramen was.

Naruto led him through town to Ichiraku.

"Two large Miso Ramen please," Naruto called to the shop owner.

"Coming up Naruto," said the shop owner.

Ayame walked over to say hello, "Hey Naruto-kun, new friend?"

"This is, you know what, I never got his name," said Naruto.

"Gaara," said the boy.

"Nice to meet you Gaara, I'm Naruto," he said in reply.

"Nice to meet you Gaara-kun, I'm Ayame," she said with a friendly smile before she got back to work.

"Do these people know what you are?" asked Gaara.

"Yes, all of the adults do," said Naruto, "Most of them hate me. Some have tried to kill me. But there are a few that see me for me. They are my precious people and I would do anything to protect them. That's true strength."

Gaara looked concentrated for a moment, "You're wrong, true strength comes from fighting only for yourself."

Naruto shook his head exasperatedly, "It's that damn demon logic. Think about it for a minute if you can tune out that crazy priest. How did our demons get sealed away in the first place? It wasn't because someone wanted to beat them for their own sake. They were sealed away by people who wanted to protect others from the danger that demons present to humans. When a human or even a demon is protecting something precious to them they will do anything, even die, to protect those precious things."

"How do you know?"

"Because I've felt it before. I've never been stronger then when I've been putting my life on the line to protect someone precious to me. I would put my life on the line to protect this village and because of that I'm stronger than the demon sealed in me could ever be," said Naruto before he dug into his first bowl of Ramen, "I don't know why but Kyubi just loves this stuff and I can't say as I blame him. It's damn good."

Gaara was deep in thought but at Naruto's words he tasted the Ramen. He could hear Shukaku singing in joy at the taste of the stuff.

"Shukaku likes it as well," said Gaara as he ate it, "I like it too."

Across the street from the ramen shop three Suna-nins watched the pair sitting and talking while eating. Then Gaara even smiled but not in an 'I'm going to crush with my sand and feed you to my mother' kind of way.

"What the hell is going on you two?" asked Baki.

"I don't know," said Temari, "That blonde boy knew that Gaara was hiding and he didn't call him Gaara, he called him Shukaku. They talked and then the blonde whispered something Gaara's ear. After that the blonde invited him for Ramen and now they are there talking. It's almost like they are old friends."

"I thought Gaara was uncontrollable," said Baki.

"It almost seemed like Gaara was scared after the Blonde whispered in his ear," said Kankuro.

"That's nonsense, nothing scares a demon," said Baki.

"Except a stronger demon," said a voice from behind them.

The three turned around to see a silver-haired Jounin with only one visible eye who waved hello before walking past them and into the Ramen stand to sit with Naruto and Gaara.

"Hey, Kakashi-sensei," shouted Naruto on seeing him, "This is my new friend Gaara. He's just like me."

"That's nice Naruto," said Kakashi, "It's always good to form such strong bonds with our allies.

"Gaara, this is my sensei, Kakashi," said Naruto with a smile at the red-head.

"Please to meet you sir," said Gaara formally. He was currently filled with so many conflicting thoughts and emotions.

"Hey Gaara?" asked Naruto.

"Yes, Naruto," said Gaara.

"Do you maybe want to get your seal fixed?" asked Naruto hopefully.

Gaara shot up looking at Naruto in disbelief, "Is that even possible?"

"Of course," said Naruto looking to Kakashi.

"I think so, but the Kazekage would have to agree," said Kakashi, "I don't know if I have the skills to fix it but I'm sure the Hokage could or maybe Jiraiya-sama could."

"Hmm, I do not believe my father would allow you to tamper with my seal. If we are going to do this, it would have to be in secret," said Gaara disappointedly.

"Well, Kakashi-sensei may be above that but I'm not," said Naruto with a grin.

"Naruto, that is not wise," said Kakashi warningly.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," said Naruto clearly ignoring him.

"Well, if I can't talk you out of this I better make sure you don't make it worse," said Kakashi with a grin under his mask.

Naruto smiled, "Then we'll do it tomorrow night if you're up for it."

Gaara nodded, "Will it affect my control over the sand?"

"Not at all, it will just keep the demon out of your head," said Naruto, "I know just the seal to use too. It was created by the Yamanaka clan to protect themselves a hundred years ago in order to keep other members of their clan out of their heads. The problem with it is that it caused sterility because it was too strong for just blocking humans. It was also the reason there are only two remaining shinobi with Yamanaka blood in their veins. However, if I make a few alterations it should work perfectly against a demon without that particular side effect."

Kakashi was shocked. Naruto was thinking of exactly the same seal as he was. He was even more surprised by the fact that Naruto knew the seal even existed. That didn't even broach the thought that Naruto might know how to alter the seal correctly to do that. But then Kakashi remembered the Chakra Fang that Naruto made, seals and all.

"Naruto," said Kakashi, "How is it you know so much about seals?"

"Well, when I first met the fur-ball I worried he may try to escape or break out so I wanted to learn more about my seal. Once I learned about that I found the subject so interested I dug into it even further. And then when I started make Chakra weapons I had to learn even more about sealing," explained Naruto rapidly, "There is so much you can do with seals. How do think demons enter our world anyway? They are summoned using thousands of human sacrifices and millions of seals that would take several life times to create. That's how the great cataclysm came about that nearly destroyed the world. Once demons entered this world chakra expanded and entered into humans causing an evolution of sorts. The exposure of humans to demons have changed all of us over time so that we can do the extraordinary feats were do. Kyubi told me that when he was first brought into this world there cities filled with millions of people that lived in buildings a hundred floor tall or more in some places. Soon it became a war to see which nation could summon the strongest demon in a war. The cities were destroyed and billions died. The entire world changed in a matter years. The problem was that once the demons were brought to this world there was no way to send them back. It was only a matter of time before the ones controlling the different demons were killed and the demons were free to do whatever they please. However, as human have become more powerful carrying lots of chakra the demons have been slowly subdued and sealed so that now when the containers die the demons will leave this world never to return and eventually there will be no more demons."

Kakashi was stunned by the story Naruto just told him.

"Shukaku said that he was the first of the nine greater demons summoned to this world. Each that came after were stronger until the last, Kyubi was summoned. Not long after Kyubi came, the world was ripped apart by uncontrollable demons. Some of the lost technology survived that we use everyday, electricity, telephones, radios, refrigerators, and few other things we take for granted. Shukaku just filled in the blanks for me," said Gaara when he saw their bewildered expressions.

"We humans must reap what we sow and eventually we'll recover from our mistakes of the past," said Naruto in a sage-like voice.

Kakashi was flabbergasted. He'd just learned so much history that, probably, no one anywhere knew. "Wow."

"Yep, pretty much," said Naruto, "Kyubi just told me all of that as I relayed it to you. He'd never told me that before."

"Naruto, does Kyubi know the process to summon more demons to this world?" asked Kakashi fearfully.

"Not a clue," said Naruto, "The summoning process always destroys the seal patterns and no demon ever witnessed another demon being summoned."

"That's good," said Kakashi, more than a little bit relieved.

"Anyway, I'm sure your teammates and instructors are chomping at the bit to find out what we've been talking about," said Naruto pointing out the back of the shop at the three Suna-nins whispering conspiratorially.

"I suppose I should," said Gaara, "I will meet you tomorrow night."

"Meet us on top of the Hokage monument," said Naruto pointing to Sandaime.

Gaara nodded and left the pair. Naruto and Kakashi watched as the other Suna-nin's tried to question him but he just ignored them and walked away.

"He was a unique character," said Kakashi.

"Yeah, but I like him," said Naruto, "If we can get that crazy badger in his head to shut up and let him sleep occasionally he'll be much happier."

"Why don't you and I go to the Library and make sure we are fully prepared with the rights seals and procedures," said Kakashi paying for their noodles.

"Thanks," said Naruto with a big smile.

**BREAK**

Naruto and Kakashi were preparing the sealing circle while they were waiting for Gaara to arrive. They found the exact seal they needed to protect Gaara's mind and with a few minor tweaks it would be strong enough to block out the demon, yet not have any nasty physical side effects like impotency.

Gaara arrived as promised.

"Hey Gaara," Naruto greeted him, "We're almost ready here. Just give us a few more minutes."

Gaara nodded and watch diligently as the pair prepared all the proper seals. In Naruto's mind Kyubi was checking over each of the seals as well.

"This looks about right," said Kakashi as he stopped marking seals.

Naruto checked it over one last time, "It's perfect. Ready Gaara?"

Gaara nodded. He could here Shukaku panicking his mind which told the little bit of rational mind he had left that this would work.

"Just sit in the center and don't touch any of the seals or lines," said Kakashi.

Gaara sat.

Kakashi joined him the center, "take off your shirt please."

Gaara took off his shirt revealing several small seal that were obviously meant to hold Shukaku in. Kakashi pulled out his Fang and Gaara's sand grabbed Kakashi's wrist.

"I'm not going to hurt you Gaara, I need to shave the hair off your neck and the bottom of your head," said Kakashi.

"I'll do it," said Gaara taking the Fang from him. He knew his sand would not allow Kakashi to touch him and it would fight him along the way anyway. Gaara carefully shaved the hair from where Kakashi told him to.

"That's good Gaara," said Kakashi taking his Fang back putting it away reassuring Kakashi that they weren't trying to kill him like Shukaku kept trying to warn him.

"I need to draw a seal on your neck and head," said Kakashi, "Is your sand going to protest?"

"A bit but I will try to control him long enough for you to finish," said Gaara.

Kakashi rapidly inked the sealed on his head and neck and then leapt out of the circle.

"This might hurt a bit Gaara but it won't take long I promise," said Naruto with a grimace.

"Ready Naruto?" asked Kakashi as he took up position on the sealing circle.

Naruto nodded as he started making hand seals at the same time as Kakashi until they both slammed their hands into the seal and filling it with chakra. Slowly the seal collapsed in on itself as each layer of the seal attached to Gaara.

Gaara grimaced in pain but it wasn't too bad as he thought it could be.

"Almost done Gaara, just hold on a bit longer," said Naruto encouragingly.

A few minutes later that last layer of the seal completed and it was over.

"There, not so bad," said Naruto to Gaara whose eyes were drooping heavily.

"Sleepy," said Gaara before his eyes closed and sleep claimed him. Better though was that Shukaku did not come out or bother him in the slightest as he slept peacefully for the first time in his life.

"What should we do with him now?" Naruto asked Kakashi.

"Take him to your apartment and let him sleep it off," said Kakashi, "He'll probably be out for a few days so just leave him on your couch."

"Fine," said Naruto grudgingly as he lifted Gaara and carried him across town to his apartment.

The next morning Naruto was out early for his training as usually. Gaara's brother and sister asked him a few times over the next week if he'd seen Gaara to which he feigned ignorance. Gaara finally woke up two days before the exam was set to begin. He woke up with a big yawn. For the first time ever he felt well rested.

As he looked around he didn't recognized his surroundings. It was then that the door opened to reveal a girl with blue hair and clear eyes.

"Oh, Gaara-san, you've awoken. Naruto-kun will be so pleased," said the girl.

"Who are you?" he asked.

"Hyuga Hinata, I'm one of Naruto's teammates," she said, "I'm just going to shower and change before I head home. Naruto should be at the Ramen stand if you'd like to join him." The girl then collected a few things from around the apartment before she entered the bathroom.

Gaara stood and stretched before he left the apartment to find Naruto. It was quite odd now for him not to hear a voice constantly telling him to kill everything that moved. He was actually thankful for it.

Gaara found Naruto at the same Ramen stand.

"Gaara, you're awake. It's about damn time," said Naruto as he motioned for another bowl for Gaara. Gaara sat down and happily gorged himself on the noodles. He actually gave Naruto a run for his money.

"Alright, now that that's done it's time to put you to the test," said Naruto, "Come on, we'll head out to one of the training grounds."

Gaara followed Naruto across the roof tops. It was one of the first time that Gaara could remember being able to travel using his own strength and not getting tired and having to use his sand. Because he never got to sleep his muscles were always fatigued and he always had to rely on the sand.

Eventually they landed in a deserted training field, "Alright, now as far as Kakashi-sensei and I can tell the sealing went perfectly. He asked me to help you make sure of that. We want to make sure there is no delay in your sand control or anything like that."

Gaara nodded and took command of his sand and moved it about just as easily as before but without the voice telling him to kill, "Seems okay."

"Good, then let's have a spar," said Naruto charging in to attack.

Gaara's sand reacted as usual but was surprised when Naruto was still able to penetrate his defenses.

"Don't forget, I have my own demon," said Naruto, "I can break through that defense of yours so you're actually going to have to fight and move on your own."

Gaara nodded, this would be a first for him.

Naruto and Gaara sparred for a long while that day. Naruto even took the time to teach Gaara some basic Taijutsu moves.

"You can't always rely on your sand Gaara," said Naruto, "There is a Taijutsu user in this village who is stronger than me even with Kyubi giving me a boost. You need to become a more well-balanced shinobi. Now you have a good chance to do so."

"Naruto," said Gaara with a slightly worried look, "My village it is planning . . ."

"To attack Konoha in a surprise attack with Orochimaru's Oto-nin," finished Naruto.

"You know?" asked Gaara.

"What will come will come," said Naruto with a friendly smile, "The question is, what are you going to do when it does come?"

"I would like to fight by your side," said Gaara, "You are my first friend, probably my only friend."

"Then defect from sand and join us," said Naruto, "I've heard things about your father and what he's done to you. You'd be welcome here and things like that would never happen here. You'd be able to start again fresh here."

"Do you think your Hokage would do that?" asked Gaara.

"Yes, he would," said Naruto, "But you're going to have to act the part of a Suna-nin until the attack begins."

"I would need to inform him then in secret," said Gaara.

Naruto smiled and raised an arm to signal someone. The Hokage then appeared next to Naruto.

"Naruto-kun, nice to see you again," said the old man, "And nice to meet you at last Gaara-san."

"Hey old man, you spying on our training?" asked Naruto with a big smile.

"Not at all, just checking in as I do sometimes," said the Hokage.

"Anyway, it's a good thing you just happened by," said Naruto, "Gaara wanted to talk to you about something."

"Oh, do tell," said the Hokage smiling pleasantly towards Gaara.

"I would like to become and Konoha Shinobi and fight by Naruto's side," said Gaara.

"I see," said the Hokage.

"Suna and Oto plan to attack during the finals," said Gaara, "I don't want to betray the one place that has treated me like a human and not a monster. Please let me stay."

"Of course," said the Hokage, "However, you will have to be tested. We will be watching during the exams. You must not kill a single Leaf Shinobi or cause permanent injury to one. Second, you must act the part of a Suna-nin until the attack begins, once you have dropped your Suna Hitai-ate and replaced with this, I will consider you an official Leaf-nin."

Gaara accepted the Hitai-ate with a reverence, "I will honor this bond Hokage-sama." Gaara then bowed deeply before having his sand gourd suck in the forehead protector to hide it.

"Naruto, am I to assume that you and Hinata-san would like to exchange the Uchiha for Gaara-san?"

Naruto looked like a miracle had just been granted to him, "Yes!" He then started jumping around in celebration.

"Well, after this exam, Uchiha will be a Chuunin and moved into Hunter-nin training," said the Hokage, "It will eliminate the weakness he's created with this team and give him a goal to work towards."

"Are you serious?" asked Naruto. He was torn between being pissed off that the Uchiha was getting favoritism again and joy at the thought of him getting his ass kick in the Hunter-nin division, maybe even killed by a missing-nin.

"Quite," said the Hokage, "Hunter-nins usually hunt in teams but occasionally we'll have a lone hunter who has suffered some tragedy in the past and has sworn to become an avenger. Actually, you'd be surprised at how often that happens." The old man chuckled.

"But what if me and Hinata and Gaara all pass the exam?" asked Naruto.

"You won't," said the Hokage, "It is not that you're not capable Naruto. But once you become a Chuunin you have far less time for training. Training that you will desperately need in the future if you're planning to take my job someday."

"Really?" asked Naruto, "But I thought . . ."

"Naruto, the only Rookie Genin other than the Uchiha that might be promoted is Nara Shikamaru. I know he is really lazy and I have no intention of sending him on missions as a Chuunin, however, in order for him to work as a strategist, he must have Chuunin rank. With this upcoming war with Otogakure and Sunagakure, we will need his skills, also, if he is not at least Chuunin it will be harder for him to exert his authority. Anyway, enough of this political stuff. How is your training going?"

"Really well. Gai-sensei may be completely insane but he knows how to train great shinobi if they are willing to listen to him. Unfortunately I'm running out of scrolls to learn from in the library. I would like access to the Chuunin level Scrolls if possible. Hinata and I have nearly flawless teamwork and I'm really looking forward to bringing Gaara in as well," said Naruto rapidly once more.

The Hokage chuckled lightly, "I'll be sure to get you access to the Chuunin scroll before the finals begin. I'm glad that Gai-san has been able to help you. Anyway, I'll leave you and Gaara to your fun. Good luck with the exams Naruto." Then the Hokage just vanished.

"Naruto," said Gaara, "How did you know?"

"I had a hunch you'd be like me," said Naruto, "Besides, if you didn't ask I would have asked you."

"Thanks," said Gaara.

"Eh, no problem," said Naruto with a grin, "I think we should call it a day. Besides, your brother and sister are probably going crazy with worry."

Gaara nodded, "I'll see you later."

Naruto ran off waving while Gaara just vanished in a whirl of sand.

**BREAK**

"Finally," yelled Naruto outside the building, "It's test time."

Hinata giggled at Naruto's antics. He had yet to tell her about Gaara and wanted for it to be a surprise when he did tell her.

Sasuke of course ignored them both and went straight into the building.

"Asshole," mumbled Naruto.

"I know," said Hinata trying to placate him a bit.

Naruto smiled at her, "We'd better follow him before he does something stupid."

"Too late," said Hinata with her Byakugan activated.

"Great," said Naruto as he entered to see Sasuke picking a fight with the two Chuunin planted to stir up trouble. Naruto decided to ignore him and walk past the whole scene straight to the third floor. He'd already warned Lee not to mess with Sasuke now that he had his Sharingan eye or he would copy his moves.

Naruto and Hinata had to wait on Sasuke to arrive. Apparently his pride was wounded because he was in an even fouler mood than before.

"You two had better not hold me back," said Sasuke as he entered the room.

"Asshole," this time it was Hinata muttering under her breath causing Naruto to smile brightly at her.

"Hinata," whispered Naruto, "Before we go in, I need to warn you to avoid a Leaf Shinobi named Kabuto. He may seem really nice but he's actually and Oto spy."

Hinata seemed surprised but nodded her understanding.

"And remember, no matter what the consequences, don't give up," said Naruto, "That's our nindo, right?"

"Right," said Hinata fiercely.

"Now let's go have fun torturing the other Genin," said Naruto with a grin that Hinata matched.

"Naruto man, long time no see buddy," said Kiba as soon as Naruto and Hinata entered.

"Arf," barked Akamaru.

"Hello to you too Kiba and Akamaru," said Naruto.

"Hello Kiba-san, Akamaru-chan," said Hinata with a small giggle after Akamaru growled at her.

"Hinata, you're not stuttering," said Kiba in shock.

"I know," said Hinata with a smile.

"You're smiling too," said Kiba, "Who are you and what have you done with Hinata?"

Hinata laughed out loud at that, "It's still me Kiba. I've just come out of my shell a bit."

"A bit?" question Shikamaru who had joined them along with Choji, Ino, and Shino.

"Okay, a lot," said Hinata, "You have to if you're going to control Naruto around the Uchiha-Bastard."

At that the whole group laughed.

"You've definitely spent too much time with Naruto," said Ino, "Where's Sasuke-kun at anyway?"

"The Uchiha-Bastard is over there being fawned over by Sakura," said Naruto pointing toward the wall.

"Big-Forehead," yelled Ino as she stomped over there to fight for Sasuke's attention.

"You know she only does that to irritate Sakura?" asked Hinata to Shikamaru who had developed a slight twitch.

"What are you talking about?" asked Shikamaru.

"Ino-san doesn't like Sasuke anymore. She just does that to annoy Sakura-san," said Hinata.

"Women are too troublesome to understand," he sighed.

"Yeah, but they sure as hell understand us," said Naruto, "Except for maybe Sasuke. I think he might be gay but I'm not certain."

"He is," said Shino out of the blue.

"Now how do you know that?" asked Kiba.

"I caught him checking out that Lee kids butt in that green spandex," said Shino.

"No way," said the group at once.

"I don't know if he likes Lee, but he was definitely drooling a bit," said Shino.

"Oh, now that's not right," said Naruto with a shiver, "So he might have been checking me out when I was around him? I feel so dirty . . . and cheap . . . and just used."

Hinata rubbed his shoulder, "It's okay Naruto-kun."

"Hold me," said Naruto jokingly hugging Hinata which she happily accepted but laughed with the other and Naruto when the hug broke.

"This is just too weird for me," said Kiba, "Hinata is laughing, smiling, joking, and talking without a stutter. What ever happened to the super-cute, unbelievably shy girl I used to have a crush on?"

"Naruto-kun," said Hinata simply getting a laugh from the group.

"So are you two together now?" asked Ino who had rejoined the group.

At that Naruto and Hinata both blushed uncontrollably.

"We're friends," said Naruto, "Best friends."

Ino gave them both a look, "Right, if you say so."

Choji then whispered to Shikamaru, "Do you think they'll ever figure it out?"

"Hinata has but Naruto is still clueless," said Shikamaru.

"You rookies should quiet down," said the voice of a silver-haired Leaf shinobi.

Naruto gave him one look and snort, "Go away Kabuto."

The silver-haired man seemed surprised.

"Have we met?" asked Kabuto.

"Not officially," said Naruto, "I've heard of you though, skilled enough in medic-nin techniques to be a Jounin but still a Genin after seven attempts, and not because you failed but because you quit. I don't trust you so stay the hell away from me and my friends or I'll kill you."

The group was shocked and so was the silver-haired teen, "How do you know that?"

"I pay attention to the Chuunin exam results," said Naruto, "They are recorded as a matter of public record and displayed as well as sent to every participating village. It helps too that I hear things because most people ignore my presence."

"Who are you exactly?" asked Kabuto.

"Your worst nightmare if you don't go away right now. Your blood limit won't help either by the time I'm through with you. No go away," ordered Naruto trying his hardest to keep Kyubi's chakra under control.

Naruto then looked at his friends, "Don't use any names around him. He has a technique that he can use to acquire all of you information and Jutsu knowledge if he knows your name."

The other just nodded keeping to mild chit-chat until Kabuto left. Naruto could feel the controlled killer intent radiating from Kabuto after Naruto completely thwarted his plans. Without names he can't properly identify the person, it is one of the requirements of his information Jutsu to work. He spotted Sasuke and was about to start questioning him when the examiner entered the room.

"Sit down you damn bastards," the man ordered.

"Chill out Ibiki-san," said Naruto completely deflating the tension in the room.

"One more word out of you brat and we're going to have a nice long chat in my office," said Ibiki. Naruto knew that Ibiki had already been ordered not to use any names so it wasn't an issue.

Naruto pouted at the man but took a seat.

"Each of you will come up and get a test paper and then sit in the seat listed on the paper," said Ibiki.

All the students collected their papers and sat in their required seats. Naruto was now thanking Kyubi for all those lessons on cheating he'd received in the Academy. He managed to steal all the answers from those around him in no time at all.

Finally the tenth question came and Naruto didn't even blink. He just stayed seated while several of the students just stood and left. Hinata remembered Naruto's instructions about not giving up no matter the consequences and didn't move an inch.

"Now for those of you still here, congratulations, you all pass this test," said Ibiki.

"But what was the point of answering all the questions then?" asked Temari.

"The tests will still be scored and affect the judges final decisions, however, sometimes being a ninja is about being willing to risk everything on a single factor," lecture Ibiki, "A ninja who is not willing to put it all on the line isn't worthy of being called a ninja or a Chuunin."

It was then that Anko bursts through the windows cutting off the rest of Ibiki's speech.

"Not bad Ibiki," said Anko, "Only fifty-four left, don't worry though, by the time I'm done there will be less that half left. Everyone follow me."

A few minutes later Naruto, Hinata, and Sasuke were waiting outside the forest of death.

"Listen up brats, this is area 44, lovingly called the forest of death. You'll be living in here for the next five days. Your goal is to acquire a pair of these scrolls anyway possible. You'll be graded on speed, accuracy, style, and any extra scrolls you may have acquired. You'll all have to sign one of these first as there will be deaths in this one and we don't want Konoha to be liable if one of you end up dead," explained Anko.

"Crazy woman," said Naruto under his breath knowing it would be heard. Anko threw a kunai at him cutting his cheek ever so slightly. His acting was perfect, even when Anko licked the blood off his cheek from behind him. He was just waiting for the snake-freak to threaten Anko.

"I think you dropped this," said the woman with her tongue holding the kunai.

Anko had a second kunai pointing between the woman's legs.

Naruto though just smirked as he vanished from Anko's grasp. Faster than most of the Genin could track, Naruto had severed the freak's tongue.

The woman screeched in pain soon dropping all pretenses and ripping his mask off to reveal Orochimaru, "I'm going to gut you for that brat."

"I would not advise that Orochimaru," said Sarutobi from behind him.

Orochimaru looked around in panic. ANBU surrounded the forest area and the Hokage was dressed in battle gear.

"Ku ku ku ku ku," laughed Orochimaru, "Sarutobi-sensei, I'm impressed. I don't know how you saw through my ploy so quickly."

"You are a genius Orochimaru, geniuses are generally overconfident in their abilities and make several mistakes along the way," said Sarutobi, "Your first mistake was deciding to betray the village. Your second mistake was not destroying the bodies of the Grass Genin you killed."

"Very good Sarutobi-sensei," said Orochimaru before he melted into mud. When he had the chance to switch places with a mud clone no one was sure. It had to have been after Naruto cut of part of his tongue but before the ANBU appeared.

"The Sound Village is hereby disqualified this exam and all future exams until further notice. ANBU, arrest the Yoroi brother and Yakushi Kabuto for espionage, and betrayal," ordered the Hokage. The Yoroi brothers were taken easily but Kabuto also dissolved into mud.

"We've not heard the last of this," said the ANBU captain to the Hokage.

"Indeed not," said the Hokage, "You have your assignment. Anko, please resume this exam. To the visiting Genin, I apologize for the delay and this little scene. Good luck with the exam."

Anko nodded, "Right then, sign this and we'll get you inside so you can start killing each other."

Eventually Naruto, Hinata, and Sasuke got there scroll and gate assignment.

"So what's the plan Naruto-kun?" asked Hinata.

"We get to the tower as fast as possible and prepare an ambush for the first team to arrive with the scroll we require. Orders from the Hokage though say we're to avoid the sand team but everyone else is fair game," said Naruto.

"Why don't we just use Hinata's Byakugan to find a team with the scroll we want and attack them?" asked Sasuke always looking for a fight.

"Look, we can still use Hinata's Byakugan to pick our target, but if we set up a proper ambush, we can avoid unnecessary fighting, plus once we're inside the tower we can't be touch by other teams," explained Naruto.

"Fine, whatever," said Sasuke turning to the gate.

"So we're going to be moving fast," said Naruto to Sasuke, "Try to keep up would you."

That pissed Sasuke off. He was about to hit Naruto when the gate opened and Naruto and Hinata ran through it and took to the tree tops moving quickly with Hinata's Byakugan active so they could avoid teams and Genjutsu traps along the way.

It only took the two hours to get to the central tower. As soon as they arrived they started laying out traps and preparing the ambush. Naruto, Hinata, and Sasuke all set the traps up to activate using Chakra strings so they were able to let the Sand Team pass untouched despite Sasuke's protests.

Finally a team from the Village of Hidden Rain walked right into their trap carrying both scrolls. Naruto and Hinata sprung their traps in perfect timing with their arrival pushing them all right in place for Sasuke to set off his traps to finish them off.

"You over did it a bit Sasuke," said Naruto looking at the bloody mess of bodies, "I hope the scrolls are recoverable. Hinata?"

She looked pale from the sight of so much blood but she located the scrolls, "They're fine. Look under that leg for his pouch."

Naruto kicked the severed leg aside and picked up the bloody pouch and pulled out both scrolls.

"Okay, so now it's a committee vote," said Naruto, "The more teams we eliminate the less we'll have to fight later. However, we put ourselves at further risk when we could just end this exam now, still ahead of the game."

"We're ahead," said Hinata, "I say we just end it now."

"Uchiha-Bastard?" asked Naruto.

"I say we get more scrolls and eliminate as much competition as possible," said Sasuke.

"I agree with Hinata, I say we end this now while we're ahead and enjoy the four days inside the tower relaxing," said Naruto ending the discussion.

Inside they were greeted by Iruka. They received their time score and were notified that they were the second team to arrive and only an hour after the Sand Team. They receive bonus points for the extra scroll though they weren't told how many points they were awarded.

**BREAK**

"How the hell did they know I was there?" demanded a very pissed off Orochimaru to Kabuto.

"I don't know Orochimaru-sama," said Kabuto, "I still can't understand how they found out I was a spy."

"Who was that brat?" demanded Orochimaru.

"I never heard his name. When I went to talk to him before the exam started he knew too much about me. He knew my history with the exam and my skill level. He even knew about my old blood healing ability. He even knew how my nin-card Jutsu worked with the name requirement so he warned off all of his friends to not say their names around me. Some of them I knew but most I did not. I did not know who the Uchiha's teammates were either," said Kabuto equally angry.

"When we attack, I want that kids head on a platter," demanded Orochimaru.

"Gaara-san will take care of it," said Kabuto, "I will see to it."

"Everything is in order with sand?" asked Orochimaru.

"Yes sir," said Kabuto, "I am meeting with Baki in a week to make sure everything is in order."

"You will not have trouble sneaking into the village now?"

"Now, it shouldn't be a problem," said Kabuto.

"Kabuto, there must be a leak supplying information to Konoha. That is the only explanation for what happened," said Orochimaru still seething with anger.

"If that is the case than the attack may be compromised," said Kabuto.

"That does not matter," said Orochimaru, "They can't stop me."

"As you wish Orochimaru-sama," said Kabuto before he vanished from sight.


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of the characters created by Kishimoto-sensei.

"Congratulations to all of you who have made it this far," began the Hokage who then when of into a long speech about the exams being held as a substitute for going to war and a lot of other stuff that Naruto yawned through.

"However, because we have too many Genin for the Third Exam we will have a preliminary round right now," said the Hokage.

"Allow me to explain," said Hayate stepping over from the front. Naruto could see the blade he made strapped to the man's back. It made Naruto proud to know that his creation had found such a good user. "We will hold preliminary matches until only eight or nine Genin remain. However, you all have the opportunity to withdraw now and not have it affect your team."

A few of the Genin who were in really bad shape immediately withdrew and requested medical assistance, which was provided for free. That left Eighteen Genin in the room. Twelve of which were from the Leaf Village, and Three from Sand village. There was only one other Genin left from Stone and two from Cloud.

"Your names will appear randomly on the board. The winner of one on one combat will advance to the next and final exam setting," explained the examiner.

"First match, Hyuga Neji of Leaf vs. Sado Kunia of Cloud," called the examiner from the names that appeared on the board.

Naruto could feel the killing intent rolling off of Neji from the balcony where he stood waiting.

"I think Neji is still upset with Cloud over his dad," said Naruto to Hinata who just nodded her agreement.

Neji didn't even give the other Genin a chance to defend himself. Neji hit him once stopping his heart and killing him.

"You're cousin is scary," said Naruto in shock.

"Sometimes," said Hinata with a bit of a shiver.

"Don't worry, if you have to face him we'll find a way for you to beat him," said Naruto reassuring her.

"Thank you Naruto-kun," said Hinata as she turned to the board to see the next name.

"Second match, Temari of the Sand vs. Tenten of Leaf," called the examiner.

"Who do you think will win?" Hinata asked Naruto.

"Temari," said Naruto, "that battle fan won't let Tenten's weapons get close to her and Tenten doesn't know how to do anything else."

Naruto was exactly correct. Tenten couldn't even get close enough to hit Temari.

"Third match, Hyuga Hinata vs. Akimichi Choji," called the examiner.

"Good luck Hinata-chan," said Naruto reassuringly.

Hinata and Choji faced each other calmly.

"Good luck Hinata," said Choji with a friendly smile.

"You too Choji," said Hinata.

"Begin," said the examiner.

"Meat Tank," called Choji as he turned into a giant rolling ball steaming right at her.

Hinata performed a few quick hand seals for a technique she'd never tried before but hoped would work anyway. With her Byakugan active she careful watched Choji's rotation for the time to strike as she knew she'd only get one chance.

"Now," she whispered as she shot forward the spinning ball and struck once with the knife edge of her hand. Choji immediately lost balance and wobbled out of his meat tank landing on his stomach but no matter what he tried to move his body moved something. He moved his left hand and his right knee bent. "Chuusuusei Biribiri no Jutsu," said Hinata, "Choji, you're nervous system is completely disoriented. I confused the signal going through your body. It will wear off in a few hours. Surrender or I will have to knock you out."

"I give up," said Choji.

The medics came in and carted Choji off but before they did one compliment her on a perfectly executed attack. Hinata wanted to smirk at Neji when she saw the look of rage on his face. She knew it wasn't because she was better than him. It was because she was learning more than what the Hyuga family generally permitted.

"Way to go Hinata-chan," shouted Naruto, "That was so cool. You have to teach me that."

"Nope," said Hinata smugly, "It's my technique. If you want to learn it you can spend a few months researching everything involved."

Naruto pouted, "Fine, be that way."

Hinata just laughed, Naruto was always cute when he pouted like that but she'd been slowly building up a resistance to it over the last few months.

"Hinata, where did you learn that?" gushed excitedly Ino, "I could use that on him to help him with his diet."

"It's in the Hospital Library, good luck finding it. It was one of Tsunade-hime's most secret techniques," boasted Hinata.

"She needs to spend less time with you Naruto," yelled Ino at the poor boy.

"What did I do?" he asked dumbly.

"Fourth match, Yamanaka Ino vs. Haruno Sakura," called the judge.

"Talk about to perfectly even shinobi," said Naruto, "I'm betting on tie."

"So troublesome, if Ino win's she'll never shut up about it, if Sakura wins, Ino will never stop complaining about it. I hope you're right or life with become far too troublesome," whined Shikamaru.

As predicted it was a tie and more than that it was a double knockout.

"Thank Kami for the little things," said Shikamaru.

"Fifth Match, Nara Shikamaru vs. Kure Yuki," called the judge.

"Screw Kami for the little things," complained Shikamaru as he walked down the stairs and out onto the arena floor. "Can I get a redraw?"

"No, begin" said Hayate.

"But a man is not supposed to hit a girl," argued Shikamaru.

"In my home, when a girl hits you sure as hell better hit her back," said Hayate.

Just then Shikamaru smirked, "Kagemane no Jutsu successful." There was a thin black line connect Shikamaru to the girl. "You know, there is a reason I wear my weapon pouch on the opposite leg as most shinobi," he began and then reached into his pouch and removed a kunai while the girl was just grabbing at air. "If I throw this while holding you in place it will kill you and there is nothing you can do to stop it. Now surrender or I'll be forced to kill you."

"I give," Yuki said defeated.

"I thought so," said Shikamaru as he release the Jutsu and walked lazily back to his friends.

"You really are the laziest bastard alive aren't you?" asked Naruto.

"Pretty much," said Shikamaru who then yawned grandly.

"Sixth match, Gaara of the Sand vs. Inuzuka Kiba," called Hayate.

"Alright Akamaru, let's go," said Kiba as he jumped over the side with his faithful dog.

"Begin," said the judge. No sooner had he said it then a giant hand of sand punched Kiba hard enough to send him into the wall andknock himunconscious.

The judge simply raised an impressed eyebrow.

"Is he still alive?" asked the Hokage of the judge.

Hayate couch and checked the body, "Yes, just unconscious, maybe a dislocated shoulder but nothing permanent or serious."

The Hokage nodded.

"Winner, Gaara of the Sand."

Gaara bowed respectfully before vanished from the floor.

"Seventh match, Rock Lee vs. Aburame Shino," said Hayate.

"Yes!" shouted Lee as he flipped off the balcony excitedly, "I will show you that the power of youth can prevail."

Shino calmly and slowly walked down to the floor. "You can't use chakra?"

"No, I cannot. I will prove my nindo using my feet and my fist. I am a Taijutsu only shinobi," explained Lee.

Shino actually quirked and eyebrow, "I forfeit. I have no way to fight against him."

"What?" screamed Naruto.

"Shino's bugs eat chakra. Shino fights a battle of attrition slowly draining his opponents of Chakra. Against someone like Lee who uses almost no chakra at all he cannot hope to win," explained Kurenai.

"Bummer," said Naruto, "And Shino's really good too."

"Sometimes these things happen. You will almost never see a ninja that does not use or need chakra like Lee," explained Kurenai, "That is Shino's greatest weakness, though I think now he will take his training a bit more seriously and stop relying on his bugs so much."

"Lee must be devastated," said Hinata, "He was so much looking forward to proving his nindo."

"He'll just have to wait until the finals," said Naruto with a grin.

"Why are you smiling?" asked Hinata.

"There are only two fights left," said Naruto, "And one is my fight."

"Eighth match, Uzumaki Naruto vs. Kankuro of the Sand."

"Oh, good luck," said Hinata. Then she plucked up the courage and gave him a small peck on the cheek right as Naruto was about to jump over the side. Instead he tripped over the railing and landed on his back.

"Hinata, what did you do that for," yelled Ino and Sakura together.

"You're supposed to wait until after the match to kiss him," said Sakura.

"Yeah, now he's going to be distracted," said Ino.

"And he's probably injured," said Shikamaru lazily, "That one seemed the most troublesome problem."

On the arena floor Naruto was in a daze. Was he hurt from the fall? Not at all. Did Hinata really just kiss him? Yes. Did he have the first clue why? No.

"Is he alive?" Kankuro asked the judge.

"Get up Uzumaki," said Hayate, "You can worry about your personal life later."

Naruto got up as ordered but wasn't really paying much attention to what was going on. He obviously missed the order to start fighting. He didn't really notice when the freaky puppet had wrapped him up and began squeezing him in the hopes of crushing him only for the strings to snap and the puppet break. He didn't even notice when he got a ton of poison sprayed in his face nor did he really care. It didn't even register that Kyubi's chakra flowing through him to keep him alive while the fur-ball yelled at him. His mind was still back on the fact that Hinata had kissed him. Him of all the people she could have chosen to kiss that were better looking, smarter, funnier, wealthier, and more popular, she chose to kiss him.

Finally Kankuro just collapsed of Chakra exhaustion and passed out after trying everything he could think of to kill Naruto. He stabbed him several times only to pull out the blade and see the wound closed up just as fast as the blade came out. It didn't even matter if he twisted the blade. The look on Kankuro's face as he tried everything he could think of was priceless. It was even funnier when Kankuro kicked him in the groin only to feel like he'd kicked a solid rock and limped away after. (Unknown to him Kyubi said, "We need that you bastard.") To the majority of the Jounin and Chuunin present, that knew about the Kyubi vessel, had a difficult time holding in their laughter.

"I must say, that is a very unique way to defeat an opponent," commented the Hokage to Anko who was now rolling on the floor laughing her hardest though no sound was heard as she used a silencing Jutsu on herself before hand.

On the balcony most of the Genin were horrified as they watch all of this happen to Naruto. They couldn't understand for the life of them why most of their Jounin instructors were laughing their asses off. Poor Hinata was mortified. She didn't think that little kiss on the cheek would cause Naruto to lose focus that badly.

"Was that some kind of new Bunshin Jutsu?" asked the Tsuchi-nin to his instructor.

"I have no idea, but if it is no village would ever approach Konoha again," said the instructor.

Gaara maintain his usual cold and calm exterior but inside his head was wonder how he could have befriended such an absolute idiot.

"Winner, Uzumaki Naruto," said the judge after he determined that Kankuro had completely depleted his Chakra, but still Naruto just stood their. "Naruto, go back to the balcony with the other Genin." Then without a word or even blinking he just turned and walked up the stairs still in his complete daze.

"What the hell is he?" Temari asked Gaara.

"An idiot," said Gaara coldly and he meant it too. He would never understand how people could get so silly over a girl.

"Final Match, Tonba Katsu of Stone vs. Uchiha Sasuke of Leaf," called Hayate though not many were paying attention to him except the contestants. "Begin."

Sasuke activated his Sharingan eyes right away and quickly attacked the Tsuchi-nin. Sasuke was pretty fast and wiry were as the Tsuchi-nin was bulky and rather slow. The fight didn't last long and naturally Sasuke came out on top of that fight.

Meanwhile Hinata was hugging Naruto fiercely and crying her eyes out for distracting him so much. But then she began to check him over for injury but found nothing, just cuts and holes in his clothing a pink skin where long cuts and gashes should have been. Unknown to her Kyubi was huffing and puffing from exhaustion at having to heal so much damage between yelling at his idiot vessel.

Finally Shikamaru got tired of it and walked up to Naruto and slapped him hard in the face snapping him out of.

"What'd you do that for?" demand Naruto before he noticed his surrounding, "Huh? What happened?"

"Figures," said Shikamaru, "He doesn't even remember."

"What? What happened?" he asked again then he noticed the tears in Hinata's eyes. "What happened Hinata-chan? Are you okay? Did someone hurt you? Just tell me who did it and I'll make them pay I swear."

Hinata then did something that sent him right back into his dazed state. She pulled him down into a fiercely passionate kiss that he would never forget . . . erm . . . if he could remember it happening in the first place.

**BREAK**

"Okay, so tell me I'm not the only one that just sawwhat happened with Naruto in there," said Sakura having called a meeting of all the rookies except for Naruto and Hinata.

"I'm pretty sure we all saw it," said Shikamaru, "What I want to know is why the Jounin and the Hokage were laughing about it and not interfering to save his life?"

"Obviously he didn't need to be saved," said Sasuke, "Why are we wasting time discussing this? I should be training."

"Shut up Uchiha-bastard," said Shino coolly.

"Does Naruto have a blood limit we don't know about? I've heard that there are some blood limits that will let you heal from almost anything. I've even heard of a blood limit that makes your body like liquid," said Ino, "He could have something like that."

"I doubt it," said Sasuke, "I heard him once say that he has a second source of chakra."

"But that's impossible," said Sakura, "The human body only produces one kind of chakra."

"But we've all seen him use a second chakra," said Shikamaru, "Though it was barely visible he used it in that match ever time he was injured that chakra healed him almost instantly. It could very well be a blood limit that is emerging for the first time ever. He was an orphan from the Kyubi attack. His parents could have very well been test shinobi trying to breed to create a new blood limit."

"That hasn't been legal in Shinobi villages since the creation of the Aburame clan," said Shino, "The only new blood limits now come from random mutation."

"Has anyone considered just asking him?" asked a new voice. When they all looked to the source they found Kakashi glaring at them. "Come on Sasuke, you have training to do for the final match if you're hoping to beat Lee."

Sasuke nodded and followed his sensei out.

With them gone the others felt ashamed. The idea of asking Naruto hadn't even crossed their minds.

"He's right, we should just find him and ask him," said Shikamaru, "If he doesn't trust us by now, he never will."

"Shikamaru is strangely right," said Ino.

"So let's split up and find him," said Sakura.

**BREAK**

Naruto still felt as if he was caught in a dream. A dream that had Hinata-chan kissing him. Not once, but twice. The last being very passionate and on the lips. Then a swift slap across the face woke him from his dream.

Naruto was very confused. He was in his apartment when he could have sworn he was just in the arena in the center of the forest of death.

"How'd we get here?" asked Naruto highly confused.

"You seem to be having problems focusing when I kiss you," said Hinata with a blush.

"You kissed me?" he asked, "Funny, I was just dreaming about that and oh my Kami that wasn't a dream."

Hinata giggled at Naruto's antics as per usual. Somehow Naruto could always make her laugh no matter how serious things were. "I'm sorry if it distracted you too badly. In fact I am really very, very sorry it distracted you during your match."

"Oh no, my match, what happened? Was I disqualified? Did I even fight?"

Hinata could believe that he couldn't remember. "You don't remember any of it?"

"No, what happened?"

Hinata then retold the whole story trying not to cry again.

"Holy shit," said Naruto, "I can't believe I was that distracted. Why couldn't Kankuro have just slapped me?"

"Naruto-kun, how was that possible? You should be dead."

"But I'm not see," said Naruto smiling hoping to avoid the subject entirely.

"Naruto-kun," she pouted, "Tell me."

"I don't want to," said Naruto pouting just as much.

But then Hinata's eyes started to tear up, "I thought we were friends, but I guess I was wrong."

"We are friends and I want to stay friends but if I tell you this you'll hate me just like the rest of the village does," said Naruto trying not breakdown.

"Naruto-kun, I could never hate you. You mean the world to me. Without your friendship and caring for me I would have been lost. You can tell me anything, I swear."

"Fine," said Naruto resigning himself that he would forever lose the first person his age that ever really meant something to him, "I am a human sacrifice that was used to imprison Kyubi no Kitsune no Youkai. You can run away screaming now, I won't mind."

"What are you talking about?" asked Hinata clearly confused.

"I the academy we were always told that Kyubi was defeated by the Yondaime Hokage right?"

Hinata nodded.

"That true, but just because something was defeated doesn't mean it was killed. The truth was simply that Yondaime Hokage wasn't strong enough to kill the demon. No human would be. So he did the next best thing, he sealed it away so that it could never hurt another person again. He couldn't risk sealing it in an inanimate object for the risk of it escaping or being set free. So he sealed it in a living prison, a baby. I was barely part of this world when Yondaime sacrificed me to seal away the demon. And when I die I will take the Demon with me. My mother died in child birth and my father died fighting the demon imprisoned within me. That's all that the Hokage has told me. He won't even tell me their names. Anyway, I can use the demon as a source of information and chakra when I need it, but it also grants unparalleled healing, that's why nothing Kankuro did was able to hurt me. The reason no one of our generation know is because of a law made by Sandaime. It was forbidden to ever talk about the demon or that it was sealed inside of me on penalty of death. So, now you know and you can hate me just like the rest of the village does, feel free to tell the other too, they have a right to know now that you do." Naruto stood up emotionally drained. He really just wanted to curl into a ball and die. In fact that seemed like a really good idea at the moment. He looked once more at the complete stunned Hinata and walked away from her. He wouldn't let her see him cry. He walked into his bedroom and closed the door. As soon as he heard the door to the apartment open and then closed, he collapsed heavily on his bed and cried as he'd never cried before.

**BREAK**

Shikamaru had decided to check the most obvious place for Naruto, his apartment. He didn't expect to arrive just as Naruto laid out all the gory details of his life in plain English. He didn't even notice Hinata run past him. He was even more surprised when only moments later he could hear Naruto crying through the paper thin walls of the apartment building.

Shikamaru wasn't quite sure when or how he left the apartment building but he did. He was found sometime later in a complete daze by Ino.

"Shikamaru," she said to him but got no response so she slapped him good. He didn't really snap out of but just stared at her.

Finally he spoke, "We don't need to know anything about Naruto and we're going to stop all of our digging. Just forget whatever you saw in that exam and never ever mention it again."

"But Shikamaru . . ." protested Ino.

"No, Ino, listen to me this time. I don't feel like being executed by the Hokage and I'm pretty sure you don't want to be either and neither do any of the others so we're never going to talk about this again. No digging into Naruto's past and no digging into any of Naruto's current abilities," said Shikamaru.

Shikamaru understood that Naruto and the demon were separate but he knew that most of the others would completely fail to understand that and would probably only see Kyubi when they looked at Naruto again. Now everything made sense. Why Naruto avoided going places with them in public. Why he always waited outside of shops while all the other went inside to buy whatever they wanted, including candy, which he knew for a fact that Naruto liked and had money to buy. He now understood why his own parents often bad mouthed Naruto and talked down on him. Why people would cross the street if they saw him coming. The dirty looks and all the glares he received for as long as he'd known Naruto.

"Shikamaru, that just doesn't make sense," said Ino.

"Fine," said Shikamaru angrily. He'd never shown anger towards anyone for anything but this time was really pissed off. The one time he was deadly serious, she just had to question him about it. "If you want to know so badly then ask him about it directly, but don't say I didn't warn you. And if he does tell you, you'd better not ever say a word about it to anyone or I will have to kill you and whoever you tell."

With that Shikamaru stormed off angrily. Never in all the time Ino knew Shikamaru did he ever react so badly to anything. He never yelled at anyone, and he especially never threatened anyone, least of all her. Whatever he learned must have been unbelievably big news.

Unfortunately Ino just become more curious and went in search of Sakura to go along with her.

**BREAK**

Naruto didn't remember falling to sleep that afternoon. But when he woke up he still had that horrible empty feeling in his heart that he'd felt after he told Hinata about his burden. He hoped that she would accept him like some of the adults did but that apparently wasn't to be the case.

Naruto didn't want to get out of bed that day or any day ever again for that matter. He felt miserable and horribly depressed. If Kyubi wouldn't have been able to heal him right away he'd almost have considered attempting suicide. Sadly his only hope would be for another demon to kill him or for a really powerful shinobi to finish him off. Maybe he could get Orochimaru to do it for him, he liked killing things right?

Naruto just sighed heavily. He knew he wouldn't let that keep him down forever, nothing ever did but this one just hurt so much more than any of the other hurts ever cast down upon him. Honestly, who did he think he was kidding? How could the heiress to the Hyuga family ever care for someone like him once she knew the truth of what he was? The answer was that she couldn't and neither could any other girl.

The only thing left to Naruto now was to seek a way to kill off the Akatsuki and Orochimaru and maybe even Sasuke. It might be a hollow goal, but it was one that Naruto could get behind. At least that way, once he'd died he would have been able to say he'd done something good for the world.

Kyubi was yelling at him about feeling self pity but he didn't really care so he tuned the demon out. He just wanted to forget the world for just one day, to forget all the hatred and evil of the world. Couldn't he be granted just that one day of peace?

Naruto could feel his eyes tearing up again as another bout of sobbing racked his body. Why did he always have to face such pain and loneliness? Naruto cried for all the pain he'd ever suffered but mostly he cried for Hinata. He burdened her with terrible knowledge that she should never have known and now she was expected by law to keep it a secret. He cried for the fact that anytime she saw him she would be terrified of him.

"_Kyubi, do you have a way of just killing us both?_" Naruto asked inside his mind.

"**Not going to fucking happen, now suck it up and get back to work. We've got shit to do,**" Kyubi shot back in reply, which Naruto just ignored.

Naruto didn't know how long he laid there. He heard someone knock on the door a few times throughout the day but he couldn't be bother to answer it. Besides, who would really want to ever talk to Konoha's dirty little secret. It was probably just a villager come to spit in his face and then defecate on him or attempt to kill him again.

After what must have been days someone finally entered his home. Apparently they had a key, so it was either Hinata there to try and kill him or break him even more or it was the Hokage.

"Hello Naruto-kun," said the old man.

"Go away," mumbled Naruto in a gravelly voice. He hadn't heard himself speak in several days and it sounded very strained from all of his sobbing.

"Naruto, you've been holed up in here for almost two weeks. Don't you think you've had enough of a pity party for yourself?"

"Do you know what I did?"

"You told Miss Hinata about your terrible burden," said the Hokage calmly.

"Yes I did, now go away, I just want to die in peace," said Naruto.

"If you die who will replace me when I decide to retire again?" asked the Hokage.

"Oh please, Orochimaru is going to kill you at the Chuunin Exam finals, or rather you're going to kill yourself using the Yondaime's sealing Jutsu on him which will fail because you'll only seal his arms and that won't matter for long because he can just take a new body but not before he seeks out Tsunade-Obaachan for his only little sadistic reunion in which he will betray her and then try to kill her. She'll survive, come back here and become the fifth Hokage and everyone will still hate me and despise me and be completely disgusted with me and somehow they will all blame me for every last trouble this village has ever suffered. There will be endless attempts by both drunk shinobi and villagers to try and kill me along with not so drunk shinobi and village trying to kill me and then you've got that damn Akatsuki out there looking for me so they can get there hands on the Kyubi for whatever game they've got planned. Basically I'm screwed, but you know what, I don't even care about any of that shit in slightest. I lived through it before, nothing will ever hurt me as much as the look on her face when I told her about my burden. So please just leave me to die, I don't really deserve to live, I never really did for that matter. I would have been better for everyone if you'd just killed me as soon as Kyubi was sealed inside of me. Why couldn't I have just died along with Yondaime or rather instead of Yondaime? The village obviously needs him more than they need me." Naruto couldn't stop the tears that were leaking from his eyes freely now. "I was broken once before and I though coming back here and trying again that maybe I could heal and for a while I was healing but now I'm just broken all over again."

Naruto only briefly glanced at the old man to see that he was crying a bit too.

"You can leave me now," said Naruto had he pulled his covers over his head and sobbed until his breathing slowed and he went back to sleep.

Sarutobi patted Naruto's shoulder before he let himself out. He knew there was nothing he could say or do the break that poor child out of his depression. He knew that depression would probably kill the boy too.

Sarutobi walked through town trying with the brim of his hat pulled down low to his face from the citizens. It wouldn't do for them to see their leader crying.

Somehow Sarutobi ended up outside the Hyuga estate where he requested to speak with Hiashi.

"Sarutobi-sama, to what do I owe the pleasure of this visit?"

"I have just come from Naruto's home," said Sarutobi trying to brush away a tear that was begging to break free.

"Oh, is his training going well?" asked Hiashi fearing he would not like the answer.

"I have watched that boy for so long. I've seen him stand strong against the unjustified hatred this village has thrown at him everyday of his entire life and not once have I ever seen him break in the slightest. I have seen the boy struggle to get past the hatred of the academy to teachers to earn him a fair chance. He has always tried his hardest, when someone refused to teach him something he knew was important, he'd find someone that would teach him or he'd find a book and teach himself. He has always given everything he had to try and help the village. One of his secret goals that he's only ever told me is that he wanted to be worthy of Yondaime's sacrifice. I've watched him grow over the years into an amazing youth with the potential to actually become Hokage and through all of his struggles and trials he's never given up or felt broken. And when he finally had a person his own age who he thought would accept him, he told her his greatest secret, the one he feared that no one his own age would never see beyond and it completely broke him. He has completely given up on even living anymore. Even with Kyubi's amazing regenerative capabilities, he has simply lost the will to live. Don't expect he'll live to the end of the month."

"So why tell me this?" asked Hiashi sadly, he feared that he knew the answer once again.

"Because it was your daughter that completely broke him," said Sarutobi before he stood and left a bewildered Hyuga Headman.

Hiashi was surprised to say the least. He knew that his daughter and the vessel were teammates. He also knew that the boy helped his daughter really blossom into a caring and intelligent young woman. He knew the boy did things for his daughter that he was never able to do for her. And now he finds out that this boy, who had done so much to help her, was so destroyed because of her. He just didn't know what to think.

Hiashi contemplated this for a long time before he finally decided to see he daughter and talk to her about the matter. He knocked politely on the door.

"Come in," Hinata's voice replied calmly and clearly.

Hiashi opened the sliding door and stepped into the room.

"Hello father," said Hinata with a kind smile.

"What are you doing?"

"Just studying an anatomy scroll father. Understanding the human body will better will help me in understanding Gentle Fist," said Hinata coolly.

"Who gave you that idea?" asked Hiashi.

"My teammate Naruto-kun," said Hinata.

"Have you seen him lately?" asked Hiashi.

"No, not for a few weeks. I'm sure he has been busy training for the exam," said Hinata.

"Hinata, I just finished speaking to the Hokage. He said that Uzumaki-san told you of his terrible burden," said Hiashi.

"Yes, father, that is true," said Hinata looking a bit saddened.

"Have you spoken with him since?" he asked.

"No father, I thought that he needed space," said Hinata.

"Well, don't worry about that, he'll be dead in a few days so he'll have all the space he needs then won't he?" said Hiashi coldly.

Hinata was shocked that her father would say such a thing, "Father, why? Why would you kill him?"

"I will not lay a finger on him nor will anyone else in the entire village or even the world," said Hiashi, "and even the demon can't save him this time. He's a broken soul."

"What do you mean? I don't understand," said Hinata nearly in tears.

"Hinata, you broke that boy completely. After all the hate and anger he's suffered from this village his friendship with you meant more to him that anything else. When he finally tells you his greatest burden and his greatest fear you simply left him. He is broken now and will probably die taking the demon with him. But worry not daughter, many in this village will praise your name and have festivals in your honor for you have done what the law forbade. You have slain their demon." With that Hiashi stood and left his daughter to consider his words. He knew that he was probably overly harsh but for someone who at all other times could see when people hurt, had completely failed the person that he knew she loved more than anyone in the world, himself included.

Hiashi was hardly down the hall when he his daughter's footsteps running down the hall and out of the estate. Perhaps there was hope for her yet.


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of the characters created by Kishimoto-sensei.

Naruto just couldn't die. It wouldn't be fair to her. After everything he had done for her. All the wonderful things he'd taught and helped her to learn she had made the biggest mistake. The truth was that when she found out about the Kyubi she was terrified that it was the Kyubi and that maybe the Kyubi was setting her up for something terrible.

She needed time to sort through her feelings and figure out everything. She never thought for an instant that it would hurt Naruto so much. She never believed that anything could have ever broken Naruto's spirit. But the more she thought about it the more she realized how foolish she was. Naruto was already afraid that she'd reject him. Naruto was already prepared that she might do exactly as she'd done. But that still didn't make her actions right. She should have known how much her acceptance or rejection would have hurt Naruto. She should have known that this would have affected Naruto as much as it affected her.

Naruto had always been hated by the village for something he couldn't control and had no say in. Naruto never hurt anyone in the village. He always gave everything he had to this village. He went out of his way to make sure everyone around him was comfortable. She had always watched him even when they were younger. He always struggled despite the cold looks and cruel words of the village. That's why she thought he'd never break even if she needed time to figure things out.

And now he had given up hope. She was supposed to be his friend. She was supposed to love him. And yet she had failed him worse than anyone had ever failed him in his entire life.

She ran through the streets frantic to arrive before it was too late. It just couldn't be too late or she too would have given up on living. After all the times he'd protected her and saved her from her own self doubt, it was her turn to save him.

She fumbled with the key to his apartment trying to unlock the door. When she entered the first thing that hit her was the awful stench of decay and feces. She hurried to the bedroom and saw his form curled up under the bed sheets shivering slightly. He was still alive. It only brought a glimmer of hope to her. Looking at the state of things she could tell he'd not left the bed for anything since he'd told her.

She sank to her knees next to the bed, "Naruto-kun, I'm so sorry." Then she cried uncontrollably.

**BREAK**

Naruto was barely waking once again. It didn't bother him, he would sleep again soon and maybe this time he wouldn't wake up. However this time was slightly different. He could hear someone crying from beside his bed. Now he knew he was hallucinating, no one but the Hokage would ever cry for him and this was a girl's sobbing.

In his delirium he had hoped that it was Hinata but he knew that was unlikely. She was terrified of him and would be happy when she hears of his death.

Not wanting to fight his delirium but enjoy this short moment of happiness he rolled to face the crying girl, "Oh if only this could be real," he said hoarsely.

Hinata looked up at him, "Naruto-kun, forgive me. I didn't know how to react."

"I could never be mad at you Hinata," replied Naruto to the illusion, "You reacted the way you should have. I'm just some human sacrifice not worthy of love or affection."

"But you are," Hinata protested, "You deserve love more than anyone in this village. You have suffered so much and always been so strong but when for the first time you truly needed someone I abandoned you. It is I that doesn't deserve affection or love."

"Yes you do," said Naruto with as much strength as he could muster, "You deserve everything good in the world and then some. You deserve better than me. But don't worry, soon I'll have passed from this world and you will be truly happy."

"No, I can't be happy, not without you," protested Hinata, "You've got to stay with me Naruto-kun or I will give up just as you have."

"Ah, but then you are only a dream," said Naruto closing his eyes once more.

He woke up again some time later after being doused with freezing cold water which woke him again. He was in his bathroom in the tub. He could see the old man Hokage in the room.

"Time to get you cleaned up Naruto-kun," said the Hokage.

"Just let me die," said Naruto, "I'm not worth any of your time or trouble."

"You are of the Leaf," said the Hokage strongly, "You are a shinobi of the Leaf and as Hokage I am responsible for all of us."

"I not worth it," Naruto repeated.

"Please fight Naruto-kun," came a strained voice from outside the bathroom.

"My dreams haunt me still, please just let me die," said Naruto once more.

"She is not a dream Naruto," said the Hokage, "She needs you to stay in this world. Fight for her now boy."

"Why do you lie to me so?" asked Naruto letting himself sink under water only for Sarutobi to pull him back up again and start scrubbing him clean.

Naruto woke again some time later back in his room. Everything smelled better suggesting that the old man changed his sheets and washed him clean not that it would matter once he was dead. It was then he noticed a needle and tube stuck in his arm.

"If you won't feed yourself then you'll be fed intravenously," said the Hokage who Naruto now noticed was sitting in a chair next to his bed, "I imagine that now that you're receiving food the Kyubi is able to repair your body and muscles. Don't worry Naruto, you'll be up and around in time for the final exam."

"What's the point?" said Naruto, "They will all still hate me."

"The ignorant villagers may still hate you Naruto but there is at least one person who still cares very deeply for you," said the Hokage glancing over to the other side of the bed.

"Hinata-chan," he said in a whisper not daring to believe, "Why are you here?"

"Naruto-kun, I'm so sorry. I just didn't know how to react to what you told me," she said not daring to meet his eyes, "I ran away and hurt you so much. I never meant to hurt you Naruto-kun. I thought you'd be strong enough to give me the time to understand this. I didn't think it would break you so. I didn't know that I meant that much to you. Forgive me Naruto-kun, I'm so sorry."

"You don't have to be sorry Hinata-chan, I don't deserve a friend like you. I'm sorry for scaring you. I'm sorry for hiding what I really am for so long from you. I just . . . I just . . . you were my friend and I liked having such a good friend. I thought you'd understand, but I was wrong. You are too good for me. You deserve so much better. I'm sorry," said Naruto trying to stop the unstoppable tears that were running down his face.

Hinata couldn't believe that Naruto thought so poorly of himself and so highly of her. She did the only thing she could think of at that moment and hugged him tightly crying with him.

"Please don't give up Naruto-kun," Hinata pleaded, "It's you who deserves better than me. I'm not strong like you. I could never survive everything you've suffered through."

"I don't want to lose you Hinata-chan," said Naruto, his voice muffled by Hinata's hug.

"You'll never lose me Naruto-kun, I will always be here for you from now on no matter what," said Hinata with a small smile and more tears.

"I hate to break this up," said the Hokage smiling fondly at the pair, "But both of you have matches coming up in two weeks times. Naruto, I suggest you eat and concentrate on using Kyubi to repair your body and then get to training. Oh, and you just might find someone interesting near the hotsprings."

Hinata was confused by the last statement but ignored it, "Naruto-kun, do you want some ramen? I'll make it for you."

Naruto smiled brightly at Hinata and nodded vigorously, "I'm going to need my strength to beat Gaara in the finals."

Hinata smiled, now that was the old Naruto.

Some days later Naruto had been fed and managed to fully recover. He was admittedly a bit stiff from not doing anything for a week and half. It was truly amazing what acceptance from one important person could do.

"Now to find that pervert," said Naruto with a wide grin stepping out of his apartment and enjoying the fresh air and bright sun.

Naruto started looking through the hot spring district trying to spot the super pervert. Finally he heard the familiar giggle of his old sensei.

Naruto walked up behind him silently before asking, "Collecting good information Ero-Sennin?"

"Truly the beauties in Konoha are some of the finest anywhere," said the pervert, "And my name is Jiraiya you brat." The pervert didn't even turn to look at him. "Are you Naruto?"

"Yeah, the old man said that I could find you here," said Naruto.

"You're almost two weeks late," said the pervert, "I was expecting you sooner."

"I was working through a personal issue," said Naruto trying to keep the shame out of his voice.

"Whatever, I don't care. You're the one missing out on being trained by me," said Jiraiya still not looking at him but taking notes and peeping at the same time.

"I realize," said Naruto starting to get annoyed.

"And you're not even my apprentice so why should I care?" asked Jiraiya.

"Because some day I'm going to become Hokage," said Naruto, "And when I do, I will outlaw peeping in the village and make it punishable by death unless your attitude changes drastically and you start paying attention to me."

At that Jiraiya actually looked at the boy, "You're too short to become Hokage."

Naruto's eye twitched at that. If he wasn't worried about the consequences he would have Ransengan'd his ass from here to the moon. "I'm just a late bloomer."

"Whatever brat," said Jiraiya turning back to his peeping.

Naruto twitched an eyebrow again. He then put his hands into the tiger seal and compressed a bit of Chakra to his fingers, "Konoha's Ultimate Taijutsu: Itami no Sennen." He then stuck his fingers in the pervert but crack and released the gathered chakra causing a small explosion and sending the pervert through the wall of the hot spring. "Call me short again, I dare you!"

Not only did the pervert just get poked in the ass and humiliated but he then got the crap beat out of him by all the women in the hot spring. Once he was unconscious Naruto dragged him out of the hot spring and to the training field where he tied him to a post.

Jiraiya woke up a bit later to see Naruto slowly burning pages from a notebook.

"Ah, what you doing?" demanded the pervert, "Those are my precious, invaluable notes you little brat."

"You called me short now take it back and I'll stop burning pages," said Naruto vindictively.

"Fine, fine, I take it back you're not short," shouted Jiraiya struggling against his bonds.

"That's more like it," said Naruto stopping his action.

"You just vertically challenged," said Jiraiya.

Naruto turned back to the fire and kept adding pages.

"NO!" shouted the pervert almost in tears, "I'm sorry, I take it back, you height is perfect the way it is."

"Much better," said Naruto as the notebook in his hand went poof, "Don't you just love the versatility of the Kage Bunshin."

"Huh?" asked the pervert confused.

"I'm not stupid enough to burn your notebook. I know that you've encoded all of your spying information into your perverted notes," said Naruto coolly, "Now, are you ready to get serious and train me for the exam finals?"

Jiraiya smirked, "You're not so stupid after all."

Naruto threw a kunai at him, which missed him but cut the ropes that were holding him.

"So, what can I teach you?" asked Jiraiya.

"Summoning," said Naruto calmly.

Jiraiya smirked, "Well, well, well, how do you know I can summon?"

"You're also known as the Gama-Sennin," said Naruto calmly.

Jiraiya laughed, "I guess I'm still famous among youth."

"Not really, Tsunade-hime and Orochimaru are more well-known. On the other hand there is not a male in the village that has hit puberty that has not heard of your works," said Naruto scratching his chin, "I suppose you're more well known but Tsunade is more respect and Orochimaru is more feared."

Jiraiya laughed again, "Alright kid, I like your style." Jiraiya made a few hands seals, "Kuchiyose no Jutsu," and slammed his hand on the ground summoning a mid-size toad with a scroll in its mouth.

Naruto signed the scroll in blood and gave it back to the toad in question.

"Good, now I want you to drain all of your chakra," said Jiraiya.

"Why?" asked Naruto.

"Most shinobi only have one source of Chakra but you are special. You have two sources and must be able to call upon that second chakra in an instant," said Jiraiya trying to be deceptive and not mention Kyubi.

"You mean Kyubi's chakra," said Naruto, "I can already call on that whenever I need it."

"Oh really?" asked Jiraiya, "Well then let's see it."

It didn't even take a moment for the clearing to be filled with the evil red chakra. Naruto bit his thumb and perform a few quick hand seals, "Kuchiyose no Jutsu!"

Naruto suddenly found himself several feet in the air on the back of a giant toad known as Gamabunta.

"Holy shit he did it," said Jiraiya in awe.

"Jiraiya," yelled the toad, "What's the meaning of calling me out?"

"Um, well, I didn't call you out. He did," said Jiraiya pointing to the top of the toads head.

"Hello boss," said Naruto with a grin at the boss toad now that he was looking the old toad in the eyes.

"Eh, this little kid," said Gamabunta, "How the hell could you summon me?"

"I used Kyubi's chakra to summon you," said Naruto, "He's pissed too let me tell you. Apparently he's got some kind of grudge against you from back when you helped Yondaime Hokage seal him inside of me."

Gamabunta laughed heartily at that, "Oi kid, tell that fox too bad and to kiss my poisonous butt."

Naruto laughed heartily along with Gamabunta, "He's really pissed now boss."

"Good, anyway, I like you kid," said Gamabunta, "You seem respectful unlike some people." The boss toad then glared at Jiraiya.

"So, will you accept me as a subordinate then boss?" asked Naruto excitedly.

"Eh? Sure kid why not, but first we gotta have a drink together," said Gamabunta.

"But boss, I'm not old enough to drink and besides, Kyubi would love nothing more than to watch me make an ass of myself if I got drunk," said Naruto.

Gamabunta laughed at that, "Well, then I guess I'll take a rein check on the drink. But you had better summon me on the day you are old enough to drink and we'll toss back a few."

"You got it boss," said Naruto with a smile.

"Well, if you're ever in a tight spot and need some help just call on me," said Gamabunta, "I'm gonna go now so hop off."

Naruto jumped off the boss toad, "See you boss."

Gamabunta then vanished in a large puff of smoke.

"He . . . liked you," said Jiraiya in disbelieve, "but he's never liked anyone but Arashi-san."

"Maybe he just doesn't like perverts," said Naruto smartly, "Who is Arashi-san anyway?"

"Arashi was the Yondaime's name, he was my student," said Jiraiya, "He's a lot like you actually."

"Really?" asked Naruto, "He's my hero you know. I want to be just like him when I get older."

"If you train hard enough and long enough you just might make it," said Jiraiya with a smile.

"So what's next? What will you teach me now?" asked Naruto.

"You want me to teach you more?" asked Jiraiya.

"Of course Ero-Sennin," said Naruto, "It's not everyday I get the chance to learn from a Sannin."

Jiraiya laughed, "Alright brat, let's see if you can handle this." Jiraiya made a long group of seals and then puffed out his chest after taking a deep breath, "Gama Yuendan no Jutsu." He then shot out a stream of fire almost fifty meters long.

"Wow!" shouted Naruto, "That was awesome, you've got to teach me that."

"That is a special technique for you to use with Gamabunta. If you're ever in a fight against a large number of enemies or another summon it is excellent. You've just got to remember to ask the boss for some oil before you use it. The fire damage is supreme," said Jiraiya. He had a face like a little kid as he envisioned the destruction such a technique would cause.

"Sweet," said Naruto, "I think I've heard about that technique. Show me the seals again would you?"

Naruto and Jiraiya spent the rest of that day and the next three daysworking on that technique.

Naruto and Hinata also spent a lot of time training with their usual workout from Gai and in Hinata's case from Ikugachi.

On the fifth day of training with Jiraiya, Naruto decided to bring Hinata along to get a few helpful hints.

"Oh, who is this Naruto?" asked Jiraiya, "Is she available?"

Naruto had to stop himself from using Rasengan on the man once again, "No, she's not available."

"Oh, so she's yours then?" asked Jiraiya with a waggle of his eyebrows.

"As far as you're concerned, yes," said Naruto hotly, "And so help me if you take one perverted note on her I'll kill you."

Hinata blushed when Naruto claimed her as his, but then the wording wasn't exactly saying that.

"So why did you bring her? I only promised Sarutobi-sensei that I would help you out," said Jiraiya.

"You'll help because I have the ultimate technique toshow you," said Naruto.

"What could you possiblyshow me that I haven't already seen?" asked Jiraiya.

"Sexy no Jutsu," said Naruto slyly causing Hinata to blush. It was by far one of his most effective Jutsu against men and if Jiraiya was as big a pervert as Naruto had been telling her, he would absolutely love that technique.

"Okay, I'm intrigued," said Jiraiya, "So Hyuga, who are fighting in the finals?"

"I'm fighting my cousin Neji. He is from the branch family but he is also the most talented Hyuga to be born in over one hundred years," said Hinata unable to hide the fear in her voice.

"You're a Hyuga, why not fight him using Gentle Fist?" asked Jiraiya.

"He's better than me. Besides, I'm better at other things," said Hinata.

"She's going to be an amazing Medic-Nin someday," shouted Naruto excitedly, "Better than Tsunade even."

Hinata blushed at Naruto's compliments and over-enthusiasm.

"Hmm," said Jiraiya as an idea began to form, "Do you know how to use Chakra scalpels?"

Hinata shook her head no, "I haven't studied surgical Jutsu yet."

"Well, go get a scroll from the hospital library on it after we finish today," said Jiraiya, "If you can't hit his tenketsu he won't be expecting you to cut ligaments and muscles."

Hinata gasped, "But that's so dangerous."

Jiraiya nodded, "It is, but with your Byakugan you should be able to cut the ligaments cleanly so that a medic-nin can heal them easily."

"Could that really work?" asked Hinata.

Jiraiya nodded, "He can't use the Gentle Fist if he can't use his hands. You just need to block him a few times with the Chakra Scalpels and he will be unable to hurt you."

"What about the Kaiten?" asked Naruto.

"He can use Kaiten?" asked Jiraiya, "How old is he?"

"He's a year older than us," said Naruto.

"I'm impressed," said Jiraiya appreciatively, "Well then, you'll just have to expose the Byakugan's greatest weakness."

"What's that?" asked Naruto curiously.

"It can't see underground," said Jiraiya.

"So how would she attack from underground?" asked Naruto.

"Doton: Shinjuu Zanshu no Jutsu," said Jiraiya, "It allows you to move under the ground freely."

"Really?" asked Naruto, "I want to learn that too then."

"Fine, then that will be today's technique," said Jiraiya with a nod.

And so the last week before the tournament went. Naruto and Hinata were constantly training on various things. Once they both got the hang of Shinjuu Zanshu they practiced their techniques in general. Hinata practiced her Chakra Enjintou (Chakra Scalpels) religiously. Lucky for her, Naruto was the perfect test subject because of his healing factor, so it didn't matter if she made a sloppy cut because she was able to practice repeatedly until every last cut was clean and perfect. Meanwhile Naruto learned to summon up various size toads. He even spent an afternoon practicing Gama Yuendan over Konoha Lake with Gamabunta.

The morning of the exam Naruto and Hinata went to meet Jiraiya one last time to give their thanks.

"Morning Ero-Sennin," said Naruto with a wave and a smile at the pervert.

"Morning Ero-Sennin-sama," said Hinata with a tiny bit of respect. After she caught him peeping once when he was late to arrive she adopted to calling him by Naruto's nickname.

"My name is Jiraiya," yelled Jiraiya at the pair.

"Whatever Ero-Sennin," said Naruto waving it off.

"Naruto-kun and I just came to say thank you for training us," said Hinata, "And we wanted to give you this." Hinata then reached into her bag and pulled out a small bundle in red-silk.

"Hinata forged it but I put the seals on it," said Naruto. He was very proud of Hinata's work.

"What's this?" asked Jiraiya as he untied the red silk string that held it closed. Inside was just a plain kunai but once he'd gotten a closer look he noticed it wasn't quite normal. The blade was much sharper than any Naruto had made before. Hinata had much better control than he did.

"It's a very special kunai," said Naruto with a smile and motioned for Hinata to explain her creation.

"The end is a regular kunai blade but if you notice the ring on the end is smaller making it slightly unbalanced. The handle has a chakra activated mini-senbon shooter. The ultra-thin chain attached to the end works like a chakra string but this is completely unbreakable thanks to the Kyubi Chakra imbued in it. Once you've thrown the dagger a good distance from yourself you can move it like you would a normal kunai on a chakra string but you can also sent a small chakra burst through the chain into the kunai to make the needles fly in all directions. They are quite poisonous too, my own concoction," explained Hinata trying not to blush.

"This is amazing," said Jiraiya as he studied it, "I've never seen such a weapon before. And you said you imbued this with Kyubi's Chakra?"

"I put all the seals on it," said Naruto, "This was Hinata-chan's final project for Ikugachi-sensei. She named it."

"Oh, what's the name?" asked Jiraiya of Hinata.

"Kyubi's Teardrop," said Hinata with a slight blush.

"Fitting name," said Jiraiya, "It is said that Kyubi's Tears were very poisonous, not that the demon ever cried."

"So you like it?" asked Naruto with a grin.

"Very much so, thank you both very much," said Jiraiya with a smile.

"So, are you coming to watch the exam today?" asked Naruto.

"I wish I could," said Jiraiya, "I would like very much to see how my students fair. Unfortunately I've been assigned to the south wall. We've learned that is where the Oto and Suna will be summoning a giant three-headed snake."

"Good luck with that," said Naruto, "Hinata and I have been assigned to help in the stadium assuming we're not too exhausted from our fights."

"You'll be fine," said Jiraiya, "Anyway, I'll be sure to find you after tomorrow."

"Just be careful," said Naruto with a fond smile of the father figure.

"Same goes for the both of you," said Jiraiya before he left waving over his shoulder.

"We'd better hurry Naruto-kun," said Hinata, "We'll be late if we don't."

"Yeah, and you've got the first match," said Naruto with a confident smirk, "Neji will never know what hit him."

Hinata giggled on the outside but inside she was slightly panicking.

"However, before we get there," said Naruto forming a few hand seals, "Gravity Release," he then touched Hinata's forehead. "Neji will probably be trying to kill you and you need to be at your absolute best."

Hinata nodded, "Thank you Naruto-kun." She then kissed him passionately and the slapped him hard to snap him out of his daze, "That was for luck and incentive to stay alive."

Naruto grinned stupidly, "With that kind of incentive no one will be able to lay a finger on me."

Hinata giggled before grabbing his hand and running toward the stadium.

**BREAK**

Days before.

"Shikamaru-kun," said a motherly woman as she attempted to get her son to come and eat with them, "Come and eat with your father and I."

"No," said Shikamaru. Ever since he'd learned about Naruto and the way the entire village treated him, including his parents, he'd been rather upset with everyone.

"I don't understand what's wrong with him Shikato," said the woman to her husband.

"He's a moody teenager, it's to be expected," said Shikato.

"I think I preferred him when he was carefree and lazy," said the woman.

"Fine Kari," said Shikato as he stood from the table and opened Shikamaru's room by picking the lock. "Shikamaru, you're going to have dinner with your mother and I this evening and that's final."

"Whatever," said Shikamaru angrily as she stormed out of his room and sat at the table.

Together they all sat and ate in silence. After an hour of eating silence Kari couldn't take it anymore. "Damn it Shikamaru, why are you so angry with everyone lately? What happened?"

"I learned something that has made disgusted with my own parents and this entire village," said Shikamaru not bothering to expand any further.

"What could you have possibly learned?" asked Kari more than a little angry and saddened that her son was disgusted with them.

"Uzumaki Naruto," said Shikamaru. He knew he wouldn't need to say anymore than that.

His mother gasped while his father didn't react one way or another. "Who told you?" asked Shikato.

"Naruto," said Shikamaru simply.

"So the demon told you himself," said Kari.

"That is exactly why I'm disgusted with you and this entire village," said Shikamaru, "If you had bothered to ever talk to him and I mean talk to him not insult him you'd discover very quickly that he and the demon are two separate beings. And from what Naruto has told me and I have witnessed Naruto has some control over the demon."

"Lies," screamed Kari, "How can you believe that demon?"

Shikato remained silent the whole time.

"Mother, how long did Kyubi attack for?" asked Shikamaru.

"The attack lasted nearly a weak," answered Shikato for his wife.

"And how many children were born that week?" asked Shikamaru already knowing the answer.

"Kyubi's attack caused a rash of premature births throughout the village," said Shikato, "Somewhere around thirty children were born that week."

"So why didn't Yondaime use one of them to seal the Kyubi?" asked Shikamaru.

Shikato remained silent but his mother seemed confused before saying "I don't know."

"Why wasn't I used? I was only born three days before Naruto," said Shikamaru.

"Yondaime would never have sacrificed someone's child," said Kari without thinking.

"Then what was Naruto? Why did he use Naruto?"

"I don't know," she answered honestly.

"I checked the records, there were only two children born the night Kyubi was defeated," said Shikamaru, "One was a girl that now helps out her mother in there tailoring shop, the other was Naruto and yet there is no record of him ever being born. However there are records of two women being admitted in labor. One is that shopkeeper, the other was a woman name Kazama that died in childbirth, the records state that the child died with her."

At that even Shikato looked up in shock, "What was that name?"

"Kazama, I've never heard it before," said Shikamaru, "Do you know the clan?"

Shikato shook his head, "It just can't be."

Shikamaru was sure what his father was mumbling about, "Anyway, it's likely that Naruto was the child of the woman that died in child birth and it was just reported that the child died because it was now the vessel of Kyubi. Do you know that Naruto has never even been told his parents name?"

"Shikamaru, you must have made a mistake about that name," said Shikato, "It's just not possible."

Now Shikamaru was starting to wonder exactly what they were trying to cover up, "No mistake, it's in the official records. Did you now her?"

"Shikamaru, you should forget this search of yours. Nothing good can come of it," said Shikato before standing up and leaving the table and the house.

Shikamaru's mother stood as well and went to her room and locked the door.

"What the hell are they hiding?" asked Shikamaru.

The next morning Shikamaru went out in search of his friends.

"Hey Ino," said Shikamaru, "Feel like helping me with a project for Naruto."

"I thought you said to stay away from Naruto," said Ino.

"This is different," said Shikamaru, "I'm trying to find out who his parents were."

"Huh?" asked Ino, "But why?"

"Because he doesn't know," said Shikamaru, "and the Hokage refuses to tell him anything, including there names."

Ino seemed surprised, "Okay, just give me a minute."

An hour later Shikamaru, Ino, Sakura, Choji, Kiba, and Shino were in the village archives trying to find the information they sought after.

"I can't find any records of a Kazama Clan," said Sakura finally defeated, "Are you sure that is the name of Naruto's mother?"

"Pretty sure," said Shikamaru as he checked the text he in front of him, "This is really starting to irk me. Look at this." Shikamaru then show the group a shinobi register from the time of Kyubi and when they were looking at the letter 'K' there was a single blank spot.

"It's been erased?" question Ino, "I thought these records were supposed to be permanent even if a shinobi became a missing-nin."

"They are and that's the problem," said Shikamaru, "It looks like this clan didn't exist in the village until maybe forty years ago and all of the records of the clan have been erased. I can't even find the name Kazama in any of our history texts and whenever I mention the name to the academy teachers they quickly change the subject or act as if they've never heard of it. Either the Kazama clan was really powerful and Naruto's identity needed to be protected or the Kazama clan did something really, really bad."

"Bad enough to be erased from all of our records?" asked Ino, "Not even Orochimaru has been erased and he is the most famous criminal in the history of our village with the exception of Uchiha Itachi and neither of them have been erased."

"But both of them are still alive," said Shikamaru, "It can be assumed that both of his parents are dead otherwise they would probably still be listed as an active shinobi."

"So we're at a dead end then," said Sakura.

"No, if I had to guess, I would say it is more likely that Naruto's identity needed to be protected even from himself. Which means we should start checking our history books for heroes from around the time of Kyubi's attack," said Shikamaru.

"Wait, Shikamaru," said Ino as a stray thought struck her, "Do you think that maybe the clan was erased from history because they were the ones to summon Kyubi?"

"No," said Shikamaru, "Kyubi has shown up throughout history, long before Konoha was ever founded."

"But still, the Kazama clan could have done something to anger the demon and bring it here," said Sakura.

"It is possible," said Shikamaru, "That would explain some things."

"Yeah, like why all the adults seem to hate Naruto," said Kiba.

Shikamaru didn't like where this discussion was going for the simple fact that they could be exactly right. Then, not only would the village hate Naruto for being the vessel of Kyubi but also for the crimes of his clan in summoning the demon. If that were true then the treatment by the village would almost seem warranted, but wasn't Naruto having the Kyubi sealed inside of him enough of a penitence for that. In the end, it wasn't looking good at all.

"I don't believe that," said Shikamaru, "I don't believe that the Kazama clan summoned the Kyubi. It just doesn't make any sense at all."

"Shikamaru," said Sakura softly, "but it does."

Shikamaru stood and stormed out of the archives. There was only one person who could answer his questions.

The group left behind though was really confused. They had almost never seen Shikamaru angry like that.

Shikamaru headed straight for the Hokage tower to ask the man himself. "May I see the Hokage please?" requested Shikamaru to the secretary.

"It will be a few minutes if you would like to wait," said the secretary, "He should be returning from the counsel meeting any minute now."

Shikamaru was about to sit down when the Hokage entered the office.

"Ah, Shikamaru-san," said Sarutobi, "what can I do for you?"

"I was hoping to have a word with you in private," said Shikamaru.

"Of course, please come into my office," said the Hokage before looking to the secretary, "Please don't disturb mefor the next hour."

"Yes Hokage-sama," said the secretary.

Once inside the office the Hokage instructed Shikamaru to have a seat, "So, what can I do for you Shikamaru?"

Shikamaru sat down, "Sir, it's about Naruto. The other day, I overheard him telling Hinata about the Kyubi."

"I see, and what do you want to know?"

"Well, when he told her, hementioned that he didn't even know who his parents were. So I thought it would be nice of me to find out for him," said Shikamaru.

"You are aware that is classified and sealed information," said Sarutobi.

"I figured as much. I checked the public records and found a hospital record from the night Kyubi was sealed of a woman and child that died in child birth. I assumed that the child was in reality Naruto and the records were falsified. The woman only had a last name listed, Kazama," said Shikamaru, "Today, my friends and I were trying to find records of a Kazama clan but there were none. In fact, it looked as if the entire clan was erased from history. There were blanks in the shinobi registries for the letter 'K' right were 'Kazama' should have been but those only start the night of the Kyubi's attack and go back about thirty years."

"Hmm, I suppose I should have been a bit more thorough in deleting those records," said the Hokage.

"I have to know though. Were the records erased to protect Naruto's real identity because he came from a powerful family or were they erased because the Kazama clan was responsible for bringing the Kyubi down on the village in the first place?" asked Shikamaru.

"Shikamaru-san, I can assure you that the Kazama clan had nothing to do with causing Kyubi to attack us. Naruto's father died fighting the Kyubi and his mother died in childbirth. Naruto was given the new family name to protect him from his father's enemies," said Sarutobi, "You can rest easy knowing that all of the hate that Naruto suffers is completely unjustified and unfair to him."

"But why Naruto then?" asked Shikamaru, "He wasn't the only newborn child that week that was left without parents."

"That is a very complicated question," said Sarutobi, "One that you don't need the answer to and it would be for the best if it was never revealed. At least, not until Naruto is more than old enough to take his family name and deal with his fathers enemies."

"What did his father do that he gained so many enemies?" asked Shikamaru.

"His father was one of the heroes of the Third Great Shinobi War," said Sarutobi giving Shikamaru a bit of clue intentionally otherwise Shikamaru would never leave him alone.

"Thank you for your time Hokage-sama," said Shikamaru deciding to leave while he still could. And now that he had a new angle to research he was going to fully exploit it.

Once he was out of the office he hurried to the history section of the library. He was quickly going through text after text identifying the heroes of the Third War from Konoha. The most prominent though was Konoha's Yellow Flash. He was never mentioned by name, just the nickname. Only once it mentioned that he became the Yondaime and as soon as Shikamaru read that he eliminated him from his search. Shikamaru spent six days digging through the historical records looking for Naruto's father but found nothing. At that Shikamaru gave up figuring that the Hokage had eliminated him from the records entirely.

"I'm sorry Naruto," said Shikamaru as he left the library, "I tried, I really did."


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of the characters created by Kishimoto-sensei.

Sarutobi was very worried about what was to come. He knew that he would have a very small chance of changing the future that Naruto had told him about but he would certainly try his best. Ever since he'd been told by Naruto about his vision of the future and some of the events to come, he did everything in his power to try and turn some things for the better. So far things seemed to be progressing better but then he still did not know everything that Naruto had seen to pass.

The thing that worried him most was the possibility of losing Konoha to Orochimaru's forces. It was something that he'd done everything in his power to prevent and now it was up to fate to decide.

Sarutobi finally put on his Hokage's Robes over his black battle suit and set out to greet the Kazekage.

"Kazekage-dono," said Sarutobi with a friendly smile, "Welcome to Konoha. I am so pleased that you could join us this year. We've been most impressed with your children in this exam."

"Thank you Hokage-dono," said the Kazekage with a small nod of his head.

"Well, we should be seated, I believe they are about ready to begin," said the Hokage motioning to the two chairs.

With that both sat to await the signal from the judge to begin his speech.

**BREAK**

"Shit," hissed Naruto as he looked around the arena.

"What's wrong Naruto-kun?" asked Hinata.

"Uchiha-bastard is missing," said Naruto, "What the hell is Kakashi-sensei teaching that arrogant bastard?"

"I don't know Naruto-kun," said Hinata, "But don't worry. Everything will be alright."

Naruto squeezed Hinata's hand and smiled at her. He had to be careful now, especially with the village watching and more importantly her father watching.

"First match," said Hayate with a cough. Naruto was pleased to see the man was still alive. He couldn't help but notice that Baki was missing. "Hyuga Hinata vs. Hyuga Neji."

Naruto nodded once to Hinata, "Just like we practiced."

Hinata nodded and smiled confidently at Naruto. She was confident that she could face Neji and fight against him strong. However, she was not confident that she could win against him.

Naruto walked up to the waiting area with the others that were present.

"Will Hinata-san be able to win Naruto?" asked Gaara interestedly.

"I think she can. It all depends on her really. She has the ability but I don't know if she'll have the confidence yet," said Naruto.

"If anything, encourage her if the boy tries to break her spirit," said Gaara calmly.

"Gaara, why are you talking to him?" demanded the blonde girl.

"He is a true friend and kindred spirit," said Gaara calmly.

"Thanks Gaara," said Naruto, "Hey, I forgot to ask, what happened to Baki?"

"He caught Hayate-san spying on a meeting between him and Kabuto," said Gaara, "Hayate fought him and killed him. I cleaned up the body so no suspicion would arise."

"Nice," said Naruto, "Kyubi's Tail must be treating him really well then."

"He was brilliant," said Gaara, "I've never seen a blade that could cut through one of Baki's Kaze no Jutsu."

"It's not called Kyubi's Tail for nothing you know," said Naruto with a grin.

"Gaara, how could you?" demanded a stunned Temari, "You've told him everything haven't you?"

"He already knew," said Gaara, "Temari, you should know that father is already dead and the attack has been well prepared for."

"But he's sitting right there," she said pointing to the Kage seats.

"That's Orochimaru in disguise," said Naruto, "He's just using Suna as fodder for his plans to kill the Hokage and capture the Uchiha-Bastard."

"What?" demanded Temari, "That can't be. Father was the strongest . . ."

"He was not that strong if he feared me," said Gaara, "especially when I am not as strong as Naruto and Naruto is not as strong as the Hokage."

"Why?" she asked finally confused.

"Naruto is a true friend. He understood my pain and the torment that Shukaku put me through. It is thanks to him that Shukaku is now silent and unable to take control of me," explained Gaara to Temari, "You may not have noticed but I have been sleeping peacefully recently."

"How?" asked Temari.

"I've been studying sealing techniques for a long time. I had heard about Gaara a long time ago and the problems Shukaku inflicted on him. When he came here I knew I could help him," explained Naruto, "Besides, we had just the right seal for the problem."

Gaara then put his hands together, "Kai." Suddenly the hair on the back of his head vanished to reveal the small round black seal. "My mind is now impervious to invasion." He then did a short series of hand seals causing the illusion to reappear.

"Oh, Naruto-kun is such a kind and generous friend to help a stranger in need," shouted Lee who had been listening to everything along with Shikamaru.

"That looks like a Yamanaka seal," said Shikamaru, "But it's also very different."

"It's based off an old Yamanaka seal they once used to protect their minds from others of their clan. I had to alter it a bit to block the mental wave patterns of demons but it worked perfectly. Kakashi-sensei helped me with it," explained Naruto.

"I thought you might have had a bit of help," said Shikamaru knowingly with a slight nod towards him.

Naruto raised his eyebrow, "So you understand?"

"Of course," said Shikamaru, "I may be lazy but I am a genius. That and you have really thin walls so I just happened to overhear your explanation."

"I see," said Naruto trying to hide his worry.

"Anyway, it's no big deal really. We should watch the match, they are about to start," said Shikamaru pointing towards the field.

**BREAK**

"Begin," said Hayate jumping clear of the center of the ring.

"You should quit now Hinata-sama," said Neji coldly.

"Neji-san, I know you resent me, but really it is you who should quit," said Hinata surprised by her own confidence.

That just seemed to make Neji angrier, "What would you know of resentment? You are the reason I have no father. You are the reason that I bare this retched seal. You main house members are arrogant and foolish and yet it is my fate to protect you."

"I know more than you might think Neji-san. My father resents me. He too blames me for your father's death. He resents that I was born a woman and not a man. He resents that I am weaker than a branch house member and my younger sister. I hate that seal as much as you do because it is likely that someday I too shall be branded by it once my sister is officially made the heir of the clan. I know all of this and yet still I try to change myself and the clan. There is no such thing as fate or destiny Neji-san. Those are words cowards use as an excuse for why their life is as it is," said Hinata cautiously yet clearly.

"You know nothing of the fate you have doomed me to. It is my fate to be the strongest of the Hyuga and yet I am to forever serve. It is my fate."

"If that is your fate then why do you fight me now? Admit it, you're fighting me because you are trying to fight against your fate," said Hinata dropping into a fighting stance knowing that would have pushed Neji over the edge.

Neji just screamed in frustration and anger before charging at Hinata.

Hinata was surprised when he did charge. She wasn't surprised that he did, but simply surprised to find his movements to be so sluggish. The moves were all clean they were just really slow moving to her eyes and she'd not even activated her Byakugan eyes.

Neji's Byakugan was flaring with anger as he struck again and again only to hit the air and she'd not even activated her own Byakugan yet. How was it possible for her to be so much faster than he was? How could she so easily dodge everything he threw? Finally, he backed off breathing heavily, but then so was she. Hinata may have been much faster but she was still lacking in stamina.

Hinata closed her eyes and when she opened them again she'd finally activated her Byakugan. She knew that if she was going to fight him now she couldn't hold back or she'd be caught within his field of divination. Hinata made three quick hand seals causing both of her hands to glow blue. She knew it would drain chakra quickly but in reality she only needed to make a few quick blocks.

Hinata lowered her stance extending one hand towards Neji before beckoning him forward to attack.

Neji was enraged she was actually taunting him into attacking, "Referee, I intend to kill her."

The look on Hayate's face told him in no uncertain terms 'Yeah right'.

Neji charged in again going straight for the kill shot but before his hand got there it was block rather painfully by Hinata's hand. She then hit the same arm three more times and suddenly his entire arm was unable to move and in the most incredible pain he'd ever felt.

Hinata put distance between them again to give Neji a chance to understand. No matter how dangerous the situation she would never be cruel enough to act as he would.

"What did you do to me?" demand Neji as he examined his limp arm that was in such pain, "You didn't close my tenketsu so what did you do?"

"I have cut the four major ligaments in your arm. If you do no get medical treatment soon it will be months before you can use that arm again and even then you might never be a shinobi again," she explained, "You've lost this match now Neji-san. Quit and get your arm fixed."

"I cannot lose to you," said Neji as he charged again this time intending to attack with his other arm only to be struck again in the same places by Hinata causing his other arm to go limp.

"Neji stop this now before you do something worse," said Hinata this time not backing away.

Neji smirked before he emitted chakra from all of his tenketsu before he began to spin.

Hinata formed two quick seals and vanished from sight once Neji began to spin.

Neji came out of his spin and did not see Hinata anywhere, he assumed that his Kaiten would have thrown her from the ring and dropped his guard. It was then he felt someone grab his ankles. When he looked he saw two hands sticking out of the ground. Suddenly his ankles would not longer support him and he collapsed to his knees.

From the ground where the hands were Hinata seemed to grow right up out of the dirt breathing heavily, "You've lost Neji. It looks like there is no such thing as fate after all, especially since you can no longer call yourself the strongest Hyuga."

"No, this cannot be," said Neji desperately trying to stand only to find that he couldn't move his feet or arms anymore.

"Judge, Neji is no longer able to fight," said Hinata looking to the judge.

Hayate then walked over to check Neji, "You are correct, winner Hyuga Hinata."

The crowd was simply stunned with the exception of Naruto who was cheering madly. Hyuga Hinata, the weakest of the Hyuga clan and the 'dead-last' from the academy had just beaten the Hyuga prodigy, Neji. But most stunning of all was that she didn't fight using the Gentle Fist but instead outside Jutsu that were never used by the Hyuga clan.

In the stands Hyuga Hanabi was stunned. She simply couldn't believe it. Her weak sister just beat the person her father had praised so strongly as having the strongest Hyuga blood ever.

"How could this have happened Father?" demanded Hanabi without taking her eyes from Hinata. He didn't answer so she asked again but this time she looked at him. However, this time she only got half the words out when she noticed the look in her father's eyes. It was pride. Hanabi had often received looks of pride from the elders and her father because she always excelled but this look went beyond that. This was the pride of a father for his daughter, not the look of the Hyuga head being proud of another Hyuga clansman.

Hiashi actually smiled, "It has finally happened."

"What father? What's finally happened?" asked Hanabi.

"A Hyuga main family member has finally broken from the clan traditions and become something more powerful than a regular Hyuga could ever be," said Hiashi. "The elders will be furious," he said with a chuckle.

"Then why are you laughing?" asked Hanabi not understanding her father's most unusual behavior.

"Because we can do nothing to her," said Hiashi, "Her body would not accept the Bunke Fuuin and the consequences of trying would be dyer for the clan. I can finally make you the heir to the clan and know that Hinata is safe."

"I don't understand father," said Hanabi, "Why not?"

"Because she had broken free of the clan in a public display of exception skills that exist outside the Hyuga clan. Long ago, when Sandaime began his reign as Hokage he tried very hard to change the laws and make the Bunke Fuuin illegal. He failed as most of the village council and the Hyuga elders voted against it. However, he was not one to give up on it. Instead, he challenged the Hyuga clan's beliefs before the council. In a very rash decision, my father, took the bait and agreed to the terms he set forth, a bet if you will. It was signed and ratified overwhelmingly by the clan and the council," explained Hiashi with a smile.

"What father? What?" asked Hanabi confused.

"It was rather simple. That if any Hyuga main family member where to fight a branch member in a public forum and that the Hyuga main family member was to resort to using non-Hyuga techniques to beat them then the seal would be made illegal and the separation of the houses would be ended. Hinata has just put that document into force," said Hiashi. He had never been prouder of his daughter in all his life.

"But why hasn't someone done this before?" asked Hanabi.

"The document was made secret, only to be known by the head of the clan and the elder council as well as the Hokage and the village council. If I had before I became clan head I would have challenge my brother a long time ago and done exactly as Hinata did," said Hiashi, "You may not realize this Hanabi, but our clan has many dark secrets that are appalling to me and the public that know of them. I have always done as I was told but with the death of your Uncle, my brother, I began to question our ways. I am pleased to see Hinata free to choose her fate."

"Father, what about those that already have the seal?" asked Hanabi.

"It is to be removed," said Hiashi feeling very pleased with the outcome.

**BREAK**

Neji couldn't believe it. The judge had just declared him the loser. He lost. He lost to his weakling cousin and now he actually had to be taken out of the stadium on a stretcher.

"You're very lucky young man," said the medic, "She made very clean surgical cuts of your tendons. They'll be healed rather easily."

Neji soon felt all of the horrid pain just fade away rapidly and the use of his limbs return rather quickly.

"Neji," said a voice from the door that he recognized instantly.

"Hiashi-sama," said Neji not moving even though he could have now that his injuries were healed.

"Neji, you have no idea how happy watching you and Hinata fight made me today," said Hiashi.

Neji was very confused by that statement. In all of his life, he'd never seen or heard Hiashi act so kindly to anyone.

"You may not realize this but Hinata has broken the curse of the Hyuga clan. You are to be freed of the Bunke Fuuin and given the same rights as the main house member," said Hiashi with a smile.

"I don't understand," said Neji.

Hiashi then explained everything to Neji about the secret law and then he explained the truth of everything that had happened to his father. Eventually Hiashi had finished explaining and left Neji to his own thoughts.

"Hinata-sama really was able to change the clan," said Neji in disbelief.

**BREAK**

"That was brilliant Hinata-chan," said Naruto giving her a hug once she entered the waiting area.

"Thank you Naruto-kun," said Hinata with a slight blush, "I still can't believe I just beat him."

"You were so good Hinata-chan," shouted Lee at the top of his voice, "The beautiful flower of Konoha's youth shines brightly before us all."

"Right Lee," said Naruto patting his back, "That's nice but you should watch this match."

Lee's attention was instantly diverted to watching Shikamaru and Temari battle.

"You were amazing Hinata-chan," said Naruto once again, "You were so fast too."

"I know, Neji almost seemed slow to me," said Hinata, "It was strange."

"It's the gravity seal," said Naruto, "It always makes your muscles work harder no matter how much stronger you get. Between that and working at the forge you were bound to get a lot faster and stronger."

"Thank you Naruto-kun . . . for everything," said Hinata with a bit of a blush and stutter. No matter how comfortable she got around Naruto her old self would sometimes make a small comeback.

Naruto actually blushed pretty badly after that, "Nah, you don't have to thank me Hinata-chan. I should be the one thanking you."

"I will never understand how it is that boys and girls both turn to mush when they are in love," said Gaara slightly perturbed with the excess sweetness. That more than anything caused them both to blush horribly red.

Naruto though was never one to blush for long, especially when there was revenge to be served up cold, "And just think, after today you'll be on our team and get to deal with this kind of mush every day and on every mission."

Gaara actually paled slightly at that thought, "Is it too late to change my mind?"

"Yep, way too late," said Naruto with a grin at the confused look on Hinata's face.

"What do you mean Naruto-kun?" she asked.

"Well, Uchiha is going to be promoted to Chuunin and moved into the Hunter-nin division. That means we'll be a team member short. A spot that Gaara was only to happy to fill. That is of course once his defection is official," said Naruto with a broad smile.

"No more Uchiha-bastard?" asked Hinata almost hopeful.

"Yep," said Naruto. It was obvious that he couldn't hide the glee at having him out of his team.

The first time around Naruto really did look at Sasuke as something of a brother. But all of that was thrown away when Sasuke tried to kill him. Once he had a real chance to step back and look closely at who Sasuke was exactly he could not find anything worthwhile in the bastard. He was obnoxious, self-center, obsessive-compulsive, untrustworthy, and worst of all, he didn't like Ramen. Naruto honestly could not bring himself to even consider risking all of the pain Sasuke had caused him and all those around him again. He knew that Sasuke was better of hating Naruto and visa versa. Nothing Naruto could have said or done would have saved Sasuke from himself and he knew that only too well. This way was just less painful if Sasuke did disappoint him again. Hopefully though, this time Sasuke will have a better chance to have everything he's ever wanted without Naruto's interference.

"But why?" asked Hinata, "The test isn't even over yet."

"The Hokage wants him to kill Itachi quickly. Rushing him into advanced training will help him develop the power to do that," said Naruto. He knew there were other reasons but Hinata didn't need to know that. Naruto thought the decision to be a bit hasty but with his mental state it was the only plausible option.

"But you're stronger than him," said Hinata confused.

Naruto blushed slightly at her compliment, "The Hokage knows that but he isn't rushed for me to develop any faster than I already am. The Uchiha-Bastard is a tool for the village. You, me, Gaara, we're the future of the village. He wants us to be stronger than Uchiha could ever become."

"It doesn't make sense," said Hinata with a small pout like she'd seen Naruto do hundreds of times.

"Hinata," said Naruto, "I promise it is okay. We can talk about this more later but right now Gaara and I have to have a little fight because Uchiha-bastard is late."

"Let's go," said Gaara as they both vanished in a whirl of sand only to appear down on the field.

"Naruto, Gaara," said Hayate with a nod to both of them.

"Hayate-san," said Naruto with a smile, "I hear Kyubi's Tail has been good to you."

"It really is a fine blade. You really should consider making more," said Hayate, "Have you even made a weapon for yourself yet?"

"Nah, I don't know what I want and for now my gloves suit me just fine," said Naruto as he put a glove on each hand.

"Well how about you Gaara?" asked Hayate, "You planning to make Shukaku style weapons?"

"Maybe, it depends on whether or not he takes me to meet the man who trained him," said Gaara, "Before now, I did not know he made weapons, but now that I know . . ."

"Don't worry Gaara, I'll take you to meet Ikugachi-sensei later," said Naruto, "But right now I believe we have a fight to get to."

"Indeed we do," said Gaara, "I hope you're ready."

Naruto smiled at his now very talkative friend. "I was born ready."

Naruto was never very patient so he made the first move attacking with Taijutsu to see how far Gaara had come in his month of training. He was very surprised when the sand around him never moved much and then he saw the thin layer that seemed to be constantly moving across the surface of his skin. Gaara blocked the first strike rather easily but then Naruto wasn't moving full speed or using much power.

The tenth strike though hurt Naruto quite a bit. He tried to round-house kick Gaara in the head, which Gaara blocked with his forearm. The problem was that the sand on his forearm formed spikes which impaled Naruto's shin.

"Ow! Damn it," yelled Naruto angrily hopping on his good leg.

Gaara just smiled, "Like my new defense?"

"No!" yelled Naruto, "I suppose I should take this seriously?" The wound on his shin had already healed.

"Why do you think I did that?" asked Gaara.

"Fine," said Naruto with a sigh, "But don't say I never warned you." Naruto then formed a single hand seal, "Kai". He released the Gravity seal. Then he formed two more quick seals, "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu." Thirty clones were now spread out around the arena.

Gaara raised a questioning eyebrow towards Naruto.

"Don't worry, you'll see . . . right about . . . . Now!" shouted Naruto from the ground below Gaara one Naruto shot out kicking him under the chin. Soon six other Narutos kicked Gaara successively under the chin sending him higher with each kick. Then eight others from above did a flipping heal kick simultaneously hitting him in the head sending him into the ground hard only to be caught by his sand.

"That hurt," whined Gaara.

"You ain't seen nothing yet," said Naruto with a grin.

"Neither have you," said Gaara with a grin to match.

With that they both started to attack each other with Taijutsu rapidly. While Gaara wasn't as fast as Naruto, his sand more than made up for the speed difference. And yet, neither of them had begun to tap into their second Chakra. As a matter of fact they were both saving that for when the attack to began.

Meanwhile up in the stand the Rookie Genin sat together watching the fight.

"Holy shit," said Kiba emphatically, "What the hell are they? Are they even human?"

"How can they keep standing after all of that?" asked Ino.

"They just keep pounding on each other," said Sakura.

"They aren't using many skills either," said Choji between eat chip he stuffed into his mouth.

"They are just playing around," said Shino.

"That is not playing," said Kiba looking to the bug user.

"It is for them. You can tell because there is no killing intent and they are both smiling," said Ino who was now looking closer.

"Holy shit, you're right," said Kiba, "But why aren't they taking this seriously?"

"They are friends," said Shikamaru who had just joined them after forfeiting his match with Temari.

"Are they really?" asked Sakura.

"Yes, from what I can tell," said Shikamaru.

"I knew that Naruto was strong but this is crazy," said Sakura, "I'm starting to wonder if Sasuke-kun is this strong."

"He isn't," said Shino, "He never was."

"Don't say that about my Sasuke-kun," yelled Sakura at Shino, "I'll bet that Sasuke-kun's month of training made him stronger than all of us put together."

"Who are you kidding?" asked Ino in disbelief of her best friend's ignorance.

"But Sasuke-kun was rookie of the year," said Sakura.

"Only because he beat me and Naruto in the book tests which we purposely did poorly in the hopes of ending up on more well balanced team," said Shino, "Unfortunately for Naruto, he got screwed over being stuck with Sasuke. Fortunately, Hinata-san turned out to be a rare gem of a Kunoichi."

"Is Hinata really that much better now?" asked Kiba.

"She beat Neji without being hit once," said Shino, "Neji is considered a genius and he was last year's Rookie of the Year, and add to that his year of experience more than the others. So yes, she was much better."

"Wow," said Ino.

"Yeah, did you see how easily she beat me?" asked Choji, "To hit me so perfectly with timing like that is nearly impossible for anyone, let alone a Genin. Out of all of us, she has probably improved the most since we first became Genin."

"I need to train more," said Ino with a sigh.

"Me too," said Sakura.

"Anyway, Naruto and Gaara are just dragging it out," said Shino, "at least until Uchiha shows up."

"And don't forget your assigned duties," said Shikamaru, "To organize a counter offensive this large on such short notice and still maintaining secrecy is amazing enough. Stay by your teams and whatever you do, don't get in Gaara's way if he goes on a rampage."

"Why Gaara?" asked Ino.

"He has a sand demon sealed inside of him," said Shikamaru. Gaara's demon was public knowledge and yet the Genin did not know it. He was trying to see how they would react first before he ever even hinted about Naruto.

"He's a demon?" asked Kiba in shock, "Is that why he beat me so easily?"

"He's not demon idiot," said Shikamaru, "He has a demon sealed inside of him."

"Oh, but the demon affects him obviously," said Sakura, "How else could he do that?" She pointed to the field that was now obscured by a small sandstorm.

"Nah," said Shikamaru, "He can use the demon's powers but he's really separate from it thanks to Naruto and Kakashi-san. I guess they gave him a new seal that protects his mind completely from the demon."

"What?" asked Ino, "What kind of seal?"

"Your clan's forbidden seal. The one that just about wiped all of you out," said Shikamaru, "But Kakashi and Naruto were able to alter it just enough to protect Gaara's mind from the demon without that nasty little side effect."

"So, Gaara is safe then?" asked Kiba.

"As safe as any other shinobi," said Shino coolly.

"Why is Gaara helping though?" asked Sakura.

"He's defecting from Sand as a thank you to Naruto," said Shikamaru. They all knew that Suna and Oto were going to be attacking during Sasuke's match.

Back down on the field, obscured by the miniature sand storm Naruto and Gaara sat in the middle of the field each baring a very concentrated look on their faces.

"Got any . . ." began Naruto, "Threes?"

"Go fish," said Gaara with a smirk.

"Damn," said Naruto as he took a card, "Yatta!" He the laid down four three's.

"Kuso," cursed Gaara, "That's three in a row. You're not cheating are you?"

"Are you accusing me of cheating?" demand Naruto putting his foot up on the small table of sand and glaring at Gaara.

Gaara stood up and put on the sand table as well, "Yes, I am accusing you of cheating."

Naruto growled and then screamed as he was suddenly being thrown across the arena by a hand of sand that had taken hold of his foot. With that Gaara let the sand storm dissipate just so the other could watch as Naruto was slammed into the wall of the arena. The only problem with that is he forgot to pick-up the cards first.

Hayate noticed the cards in the dirt now that he could see what was happening again. "Hold!"

The hand of sand stopped about an inch from slamming Naruto into the wall.

"Oh thank you," said Naruto. Then the sand let him go and he drop a dozen feet to the hard ground below.

"Uzumaki Naruto and Sabaku no Gaara are disqualified," shouted out Hayate with a slightly annoyed expression on his face as he showed the playing cards to the Hokage and the audience.

"You idiot Gaara," yelled Naruto, "Why didn't you pick up the cards first?"

"They're your damn cards," said Gaara equally loud. Two months ago Gaara would have probably tried to kill him with his sand for yelling at him but now he actually found enjoyment in it. It was fun to argue about silly things with your best friend.

"So, you're the one that decided to throw me into the side of the stadium and you're the one that wanted to show it off to the audience and dropped the sand storm. You should have picked them up first," yelled Naruto back.

"It's not like weren't both going to quit soon anyway," said Gaara crossing his arms sourly.

"Fine," said Naruto crossing his arms with an equally sour expression.

"Idiots," said Hayate, Sarutobi, Sakura, Shikamaru, Choji, Kiba, Ino, Temari, Lee, Sasuke, and Kakashi at the same exact time.

"Uchiha-Bastard," said Naruto "I see you've finally decided to grace us with your presence."

Sasuke just sneered in response.

"Good luck Sasuke," said Kakashi before he jumped up into the stands to his assigned quadrant.

Lee was shouting with glee before he jumped from the private competitors' balcony down to the arena floor, "At long last the power of youth will prevail this day in combat to prove my nindo!"

Naruto and Gaara both sweat dropped before they went to find Hinata for the attack to begin.

Hayate stood in the center between the two combatants who were both extremely tense, "Rock Lee vs. Uchiha Sasuke . . . ready . . . begin."

BOOM!

Hayate had no more than said begin when explosions rocked the stadium signaling the start of the battle.

Unfortunately for Lee one of the explosions went off where he was standing and he was sent across the stadium through the only to hit the wall and be knocked unconscious. Only a brief 'NO!' was heard from him before he hit.

"Uchiha, you have your assignment," said Hayate calmly before he leapt off to take up his position.

Sasuke leapt up into the stands landing next to Kakashi.

"I didn't even get to fight," whined Sasuke.

"Don't worry Sasuke, there are plenty of opponents for you to fight now," said Kakashi as he quickly dispatched another Oto-nin.

Naruto, Hinata, and Gaara all left through the tunnels of the stadium and into the sewers. Their job was to cut off any more Oto and Suna-nin from entering the stadium. They exited the sewers right in front of the main entrance. Gaara quickly put up a wall of sand to seal off the doors and began using his sandstorm again but this time to surround the entire stadium, for this he was tapping heavily into Shukaku's chakra.

That left Naruto and Hinata to fight off most of the incoming shinobi.

"They just keep coming," said Hinata as she took out another ninja.

"This isn't getting us anywhere," said Naruto, "They can't get in the stadium."

"I'll enter the storm, they won't see me and I can maintain the storm for some time," said Gaara.

"But then you won't know when the fight is over," said Hinata, "You could waste all of your chakra and die in there."

"I know, but . . ."

"No time for that Gaara," said Naruto as he looked at the newcomer, "Forget the sandstorm completely. I'm going to need your help with this guy."

"Gaara-kun, I am very disappointed," said a silky voice, "You were supposed to have eliminated Naruto-kun by now."

"That's why this is called a double-cross," said Gaara with a manic grin, it was then he decided to don his new forehead protector from his gourd and cut off the old Suna forehead protector.

"I suppose it was bound to happen," said the man, "I suppose demons like you two will always look out for each other."

"Damn right we do," said Naruto.

"Tell me, did you know Hinata-chan?" asked the man.

"Kabuto, if you call her that again . . ." said Naruto leaving the threat hanging.

"Call her what? Hinata-chan?" asked Kabuto with a twisted grin at seeing Naruto getting so worked up.

Naruto looked at the ground, "That was a mistake." Naruto suddenly locked eyes with Kabuto.

Kabuto locked eyes and this over-powering fear filled every one of his cells. He desperately wanted to run away as fast as he could and the feeling only intensified as the evil red chakra began to pour out of Naruto and wrap around his body. His finger-nails suddenly tore through the tips of his gloves and the whisker marks on his face grew thicker and darker.

**"You've made a big mistake,"** came Naruto's voice much deeper than usual.

Kabuto was paralyzed with an immense fear. This was a thousand times worse than Orochimaru's Kanashibari no Jutsu, a Jutsu he'd experience many times. If only he'd had an info card on Naruto he may have been able to avoid this technique but now he was trapped and he knew it.

Gaara was stunned, almost fearful. Naruto had told him he had a demon within him and indeed he'd felt some the demonic chakra before from Naruto but it was nothing compared to what he felt coming from Naruto now.

Hinata had felt this from Naruto before and so she was able to contain her fear pretty well, especially since she knew that Naruto would never hurt her. Even still, this feeling was so much more intense than anything she'd felt before coming from Naruto.

"Gaara," said Naruto a bit more in control of himself, "Deal with him, I have something else to see to."

Gaara suddenly snapped out of his reverie and realized what Naruto told him to do, "I will Naruto-sama."

"Don't be like that," said Naruto, "I'm just your friend, not your master."

Gaara smiled and nodded to his friend.

Naruto suddenly vanished.

Kabuto could suddenly move again but he was still shaking with fear. That feeling was worse than anything he'd ever thought possible.

Gaara thought on what Naruto did and how he pulled Kyubi's chakra and some of his physical features out. Any time Gaara had done that in the past it never had quite the same terrifying effect but now that he had control of his mind perhaps he could create a similar effect.

Gaara began to call out Shukaku's chakra and let it wrap around him in a similar manner. He could feel the demonic chakra flowing through him as it did Naruto. His vision suddenly sharpened and he knew something was happening. Gaara looked up and locked eyes with Kabuto.

Kabuto had just about stopped his shaking when suddenly he was getting the same intense feeling from Gaara, though not nearly as grand. He made the grave mistake of locking eyes with him. That same paralyzing feeling was back, even if it was weaker, it was still enough to make him nearly lose bowel control.

"I'm going to kill you," said Gaara letting his sand come to life. It began to wrap around Kabuto while he was paralyzed and could do nothing about it, "Sabaku Kyuu, Sabaku Sousou." The sand crushed Kabuto within it, the sand then retreated letting the mangled body drop to the ground.

"Gaara-san, we should go, there is more to do and Naruto-kun may need help," said Hinata trying not to look at the body.

"Just Gaara," he said, "We're teammates and friends aren't we?"

"Of course Gaara," said Hinata with a smile at her new demonic ally.

Gaara and Hinata decided that going back inside the arena would be the best place to start. Unknown to either of them though, Kabuto's body was regenerating and healing itself rapidly.

**BREAK**

Naruto only had one goal, to do everything in his power to help the old man survive. He just had to hope the old man didn't start his self sacrificing Jutsu yet.

Naruto landed outside the force field on the opposite side of the ANBU.

_"Hey, Kyubi, any tips for getting me through this force field?"_ Naruto asked in his mind.

**"That energy ball of yours should open a small door for you but it won't last very long," **replied Kyubi calmly. He was more focused on keeping the chakra he was supplying the brat flowing steadily and evenly so that neither of them ended up in a frenzy and got themselves killed by ANBU.

"Thanks," said Naruto out loud as he began creating the Rasengan with only one hand, something he'd spent two years perfecting. Once the technique was set he drove the energy ball into the shield causing the whole thing to flicker and then thin on his side soon creating a small whole just big enough for him to leap through and leap he did. He still lost part of his shoe in the process. He was very lucky he'd curled his toes in or he may have lost them too.

"Don't let me be too late," said Naruto as he rushed through the forest. He arrived to see the old man holding strong onto Orochimaru while a sword was fighting to run him through completely. "Shit," he cursed angrily.

He saw a giant ape with one hand on the blade fighting to hold the blade back so that was going to be his first objective, getting rid of that sword.

Naruto ran through the various roots and broken tiles to help the ape. Naruto grabbed the blade handle and it burned horrible but that didn't stop him from pulling it out with the Ape's help.

"Thank you Naruto," said the old man, "But don't let go of that sword."

"I'll take the sword kid," said the ape letting Naruto know that it was a summoned creature.

"Naruto," said Sandaime with a cough of blood, "I want to tell you," he paused to cough again, "I want to tell you about your parents."

"Fight him and tell me later," said Naruto.

"There won't be a later brat," said Orochimaru as he tried to pull the blade back closer again.

Naruto fought to bring the blade closer to Enma so the ape could get a firm grip on it.

"Naruto, you're parents loved you very much," said Sandaime, "That's why your father," he paused again to cough more blood, "Your father he loved you, but you have to understand . . . he couldn't ask another parent to give their child . . . especially for something so risky. Your mother died and your father was devastated but he loved this village so much that he could not forsake them . . . he knew his duty to the village and to you . . . he didn't want to use you but he couldn't ask another parent," Sarutobi was starting to ramble now.

"What did my father do?" asked Naruto as he continued to fight the blade.

"He didn't want to seal Kyubi in you, but he couldn't . . . couldn't ask another family for their child. He loved you so much Naruto-kun. You look just like him," said Sarutobi coughing a bit more blood.

"My father sealed Kyubi but I thought . . ."

Sarutobi laughed, "Your father Naruto, he was the Yondaime. You are his legacy. But you must understand he didn't want to leave you like he did but if he didn't not only would Kyubi have killed you but he would have killed the entire village."

Naruto was stunned but somewhere deep inside he'd always believed that Yondaime had chosen him for a special reason. And now he knew, he was chosen because he couldn't bear to ask another parent to do something he was unwilling to do himself. His father was the greatest shinobi in the village and now Naruto had a lot to live up to, even more so than before.

"Become a good man Naruto-kun, just like your father before you. Ask Kakashi and Jiraiya, they can tell you about him," said Sarutobi coughing up a bit more blood. The color was quickly fading from his face and the life was leaving his eyes quickly. "In my office, you'll find a scroll with your name. Find it and read it. It's for you from him."

"Thank you oyaji," said Naruto with tears in his eyes and then with one last heavy pull he brought the blade close enough to the ape to properly grip.

"He's lying to you brat," said Orochimaru, "You're just a false body created to seal the demon. You have no parents."

"Shut up," screamed Naruto knowing the fowl snake was lying and yet it also told Naruto that Orochimaru knew that Yondaime Hokage was really his father. It was just Orochimaru's grudge against such a great man that made him want to hurt Naruto.

"If I can't take you with me, then I will at least take your Jutsu," said Sarutobi before Naruto could get close enough to help him.

Naruto watched in horror as Orochimaru's arms turned sickly black and the old man fell dead. His last words, "Idiot Apprentice."

Naruto saw red and began to attack Orochimaru who was screaming in rage and didn't notice him. He did however notice when a large gash was slice into his throat by the boy's claws.

Orochimaru couldn't even raise a hand to stop the bleeding, not that the cut was very deep anyway.

Unfortunately for Naruto, he didn't notice the Ape vanishing or the sword flying back to its owner slicing the side of his neck on the way until it was too late.

**"There's a lot of poison kit. You'll pass out soon so make the time you've got left count,"** ordered Kyubi.

Naruto did the only thing he could think of and created a Rasengan orb in his palm. The world around him was fading fast but he did see the look of terror in Orochimaru's eyes when he saw the attack. Naruto began to fall forward and just let himself hoping to drive the attack into the man's chest. He missed horribly but still managed to hit Orochimaru's knee completely destroying the limb entirely. That was the last thing that Naruto saw.

Outside the enclosed Area the ANBU were waiting patiently and hoping for the best inside. They didn't know that Naruto had found a way inside but they did hear the unmistakable sound of Orochimaru screaming in extreme agony right before the shield dropped. The four men that created the field were seen leaping away from the forested area carrying a mangled body. Both arms of the body looked dead and one of the legs was missing leaving only a mangle stump instead. There was no mistaking it that the body was Orochimaru's.

Kakashi was the first to hurry inside the field only to find Sandaime dead and Naruto unconscious not far from the body. One of Naruto's hands was gripping a severed leg that no doubt belonged to Orochimaru.

"What is he doing hear?" asked one of the ANBU that just arrived.

"It looks like he fought Orochimaru with Sandaime-sama," said Kakashi, "I think he may have been the one to take of Orochimaru's leg after Sandaime fell." Kakashi was a former ANBU and he was excellent at analyzing battle scenes from what he'd seen Naruto had arrived after it was already too late to save Sandaime, especially after looking at the seal on the old man's abdomen. "Sandaime tried to seal Orochimaru but it looks like he didn't have enough Chakra to finish him. The sword wound looks like it was very poisonous, probably 'The Grasscutter'. Naruto's hand are burned which means that he was trying to stop the blade with Enma's help. And then his neck was cut by the sword but not before he took Orochimaru's leg." Kakashi then checked to make sure Naruto was still alive, "He's alive and the wound has already healed but it looks like he's still fighting the poison off."

"Amazing," said the ANBU as he read the same analysis, "I concur with your assessment but I want to know what technique he used to take Orochimaru's leg. I've never seen a wound like that. It looks like it was ripped off but by what?"

Kakashi thought the wound looked very familiar to him but for Naruto to know that technique was impossible unless Jiraiya taught it to him. "Rasengan."

All of the ANBU gasped. They had heard of the legendary technique but they never thought they would ever see it used by anyone but Jiraiya.

"Are you certain that boy used it?" asked the ANBU captain.

"Certain," said Kakashi, "Does anyone know if Jiraiya has been in town?"

"Yes, he was training the boy, but could he have possibly learned that technique so quickly?"

"An incomplete Rasengan could have done this just as well as a completed one could. Naruto very well could have developed a weak Rasengan capable of this," said Kakashi though he knew it was unlike but if it satisfied the ANBU and protected his student then he was okay with that. However, it did open a whole new can of worms.

"How did he get in?" another ANBU.

"Probably by using his Rasengan," said Kakashi calmly. He knew that if that was how Naruto got in then he more than likely did know a complete version of the Rasengan but it was nearly impossible for that to be true and yet it just might. With all of the other things that Naruto has done, why couldn't he have done this too?

"Shouldn't we take him to the hospital?" asked another ANBU.

"Let his team take him, we've more work to do," said Kakashi motioning towards Gaara and Hinata who were rushing over. "You two take him home. Hinata, cleanse the poison from his system. The Kyubi should be helping with that so you won't have to do much."

"Sandaime-sama," gasped Hinata looking to the old man.

"He's already gone Hinata but Naruto isn't, now go!" said Kakashi a bit too harshly.

Hinata and Gaara gather up Naruto and left as ordered although they felt very saddened by the loss of the old man.


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of the characters created by Kishimoto-sensei.

A/N: A few people have commented that Naruto seems a bit immature for being 20-something years old. The way I see, Naruto has always and will always be immature, it is just his nature when dealing with emotions and other people. Also count the fact that when he traveled back in time he was still a child or rather early-teen. He didn't need to grow up, he just needed to act as a child and be a child. There was no reason for him to grow up beyond his age at the time. All of his training and planning was done at the Kyubi's advice and instruction so it wasn't necessary for him to think as an adult would. Naturally he did mature a little bit but not much. And for anyone who has had their heart ripped out by the object of their affection you know how painful it can be, adult or not. In Naruto's case he had even more on the line by revealing his secrets to Hinata, so not only did she reject him but he risked having all of his friends turn against him as well.

Naruto was slow to open his eyes and even when he did he wished he hadn't. He ached all over the place and his head was hurting horribly.

"Naruto-kun," came a soft and worried voice that Naruto had burned into his memory by now.

"Hinata-chan, not so loud," said Naruto closing his eyes again.

"You're alright," said Hinata sounding relieved.

"That poison did a number on me, even Kyubi had trouble fighting it," said Naruto, "I don't know how Sandaime survived for so long with that working against him."

"Naruto, were you there when he died?" asked Hinata worriedly.

"Yeah," said Naruto sadly, "He fought Orochimaru the whole time. He died a true hero to the village."

"Naruto, was Orochimaru dead?" asked a voice that Naruto recognized as Kakashi's.

"No, Sandaime was only able to seal away Orochimaru's arms," said Naruto, "But it will slow him down for a while. If only that poison hadn't affected me so. I could have killed him." Naruto was angry with himself.

"It is okay Naruto," said Kakashi, "You still did a good amount of damage to him. The Oto-nin will be lucky if he didn't die from blood loss after you removed his leg."

"Well, that's something I suppose," said Naruto, "Is everyone else okay?"

"All of the Rookies are fine," said Kakashi, "Lee is a bit banged up from one of the explosions but he'll be fine eventually."

"That's good," said Naruto, "When is the funeral?"

"Tomorrow," said Kakashi, "Did Sandaime give any instruction before he died?"

"He told me to protect the village and make my father proud," said Naruto with a distant smile, "What was he like Kakashi-sensei? Did he have my sense of humor? Or was he serious all the time?"

Kakashi seemed surprised for only a moment, "You're father was amazing Naruto. He always knew just what to say when my team was feeling down or when we were in trouble he always protected us and looked after us. He definitely had your sense of humor and was probably more of a pranking terror than you ever were, or at least that is what I was told. He knew when to be serious and when not to. He was very much like you."

"Thank you Kakashi-sensei," said Naruto with a smile, "When we have more time, could you tell me more about him?"

"Of course Naruto, anytime," said Kakashi, "But I really must be going, there are a lot of repairs to complete." With that Kakashi left the pair alone.

"Where's Gaara?" asked Naruto.

"He's getting all of his village registration paperwork filed," said Hinata, "Sandaime-sama already filed everything to make him official but Gaara still needs to sign some of it and then he said he was going to look for a new apartment. I think he wants to get a two bedroom apartment to share with you so you might need to talk to him about it."

"I will, I think that would be nice," said Naruto as he reached for Hinata's hand, "Did you ever leave my side?"

"It's only been one night," said Hinata, "It wasn't necessary for me to leave and check in with my family for such a short time."

"Is your family okay?" asked Naruto.

"They are all fine," said Hinata, "In fact, I saw my father briefly yesterday when I was bringing you here and he smiled at me."

'That's great Hinata," said Naruto squeezing her hand.

Hinata then did something that surprised him and Hinata both. She got up of the chair she was sitting on next to the bed and when into the bathroom. When she came out she was wearing one of Naruto's sweatshirts only. She then slid into bed next to him a snuggled up close.

"You need to sleep more and I haven't slept at all," said Hinata with a yawn as she wrapper her arms around one his and used his shoulder as a pillow. It wasn't long before Naruto could tell she was deeply asleep and not long after that he too was deeply asleep and very happy.

**BREAK**

The next day was a sad affair in which even the heavens cried for Sandaime's passing from this world to the next. Naruto, Hinata and Gaara all attended the funeral together. Sasuke attended with Kakashi. All the other rookies were there as well. Lee was using a single crutch to help him along, but as he had told them later the doctors said he'd be as good as new in a few days.

After the funeral Naruto, Hinata, Gaara, and Sasuke were asked to meet with Kakashi.

"Yo," said Kakashi showing up an hour late to the meeting he'd called for.

The four just nodded solemnly, they weren't really in the mood to listen to his lame excuse.

"I know you're all sad to have lost Sandaime-sama and so am I. However, we are shinobi and must continue on strong for the village. Everyone will have to start working harder now to make up for the loss of shinobi to the village. We can't show any weakness to other villages during this time so part of that includes the following. Sasuke, you've been promoted to Chuunin rank and will be entering into Hunter-nin training starting tomorrow at five A.M. You're trainer will collect you then," said Kakashi with a small smile.

Naruto, Hinata, and Gaara could all see the look of triumph in Sasuke's eyes and as if to add insult to injury he sneered at Naruto to show his superiority.

"With Sasuke leaving the team, Gaara has been selected to fill the spot. Gaara, welcome to the team," said Kakashi with a smile, "Now, you are all going to have to help with repairing the village for the next few weeks. Unfortunately, I have my own missions to attend to."

"We understand Kakashi-sensei," said Hinata, "Just be careful."

Kakashi nodded and smiled at the girl, "Thank you Hinata."

Hinata nodded and returned the smile.

"Also, Jiraiya-sama wants to see all of you at some point today," said Kakashi.

"We'll go, but first I need to go to the Hokage's office and pick up a scroll," said Naruto, "Sandaime said he left it for me."

"Alright then," said Kakashi, "See ya." He then just popped away in smoke.

"I've got to learn how to do that," said Naruto with a small grin. Naruto took a deep breath before he turned to Sasuke and extend his hand to him, "Congratulations on your promotion Sasuke. I wish you all the best in fulfilling your ambition."

Sasuke looked at the hand cautiously and then into Naruto's eyes but saw no malice or false feeling there. He accepted the hand and shook it strongly, "Good luck to you too and the rest of your team."

"Thanks," said Naruto with a nod. They may have hated each other but deep down Naruto didn't wish any true ill-will towards Sasuke. Everything was in the past and now they would be going their separate ways in peace.

Sasuke nodded before he turned and left the trio behind.

"Why did you do that?" asked Gaara.

"He's not my problem anymore. No reason to continue being a prick to him if he's no longer a threat to my life or the success of my team," said Naruto with a shrug, "Now, we should be going if we're going to finish everything we need to do."

Hinata and Gaara nodded and followed Naruto to the Hokage tower. Outside the tower they found a lone figure standing looking at the building. It was obvious the figure had been crying and in fact still was.

"Hey Konohamaru," said Naruto as he came up next to the boy and put a hand on his head.

"Naruto-nichan," said Konohamaru with a sniffle.

"I miss him too," said Naruto with a chuckle, "Do you remember the first time we met?"

Konohamaru nodded and sniffled again.

"Do you remember the first time you defeated the old man using the ultimate technique?" asked Naruto.

Konohamaru actually let out a small snort which happened to cause snot to shoot out and hit Naruto's shoe causing the poor child to look mortified.

Naruto though just laughed off, "Do remember what he did when he finally woke up?"

"Yeah, he let me where his hat and robes the whole day," said Konohamaru with a small smile on his face.

"I still can't believe he did that. You got to be Hokage before me," said Naruto with a pout that caused Konohamaru to laugh. "Your grandpa loved you very much Konohamaru and he was very proud of you."

Konohamaru hugged Naruto tightly and sobbed a bit more.

"Just remember those good times and everything he taught you Konohamaru and he'll never really leave you," said Naruto rubbing the kids head.

"Thank you Naruto-nichan," said Konohamaru.

"I'm going up to his office, do you want to come with us?" asked Naruto.

Konohamaru nodded.

"You remember Hinata-chan right?" asked Naruto.

"Yeah, she's the pretty one that always gives me sweets," said Konohamaru with a grin that caused Hinata to blush fiercely.

"This is Gaara, he's our new teammate," said Naruto making the introduction.

"Gaara-nichan, you'd better help Naruto-nichan and Hinata-nechan," said Konohamaru fiercely protective of the couple.

Gaara smiled at the little boy, "You can count on it."

"Good, but if I find out differently you'll find yourself subject to the strongest technique in all of Konoha village," said the boy with a devious grin.

Hinata smacked Naruto in the back of the head, "I still can't believe you taught him that."

"What? He needed it at the time," said Naruto innocently.

Hinata huffed and walked ahead into the Hokage tower.

"She's still mad about that huh?" asked Konohamaru in a secretive whisper to Naruto.

"Not really," said Naruto in an equal whisper, "She's just teasing me. Didn't see how she walked away?"

"Huh?" asked Konohamaru who watched Hinata walking away with a subtle sway to her hips as she went, "Looks normal to me."

"You'll understand when you're older," said Naruto as he quickly chased after Hinata to plead for forgiveness.

"Don't worry," said Gaara, "I don't really understand it myself either."

"Come on," said the boy, "Let's go before Naruto-nichan does something to make Hinata-nechan try to kill him."

Naruto and the other easily entered the Hokage's office to search for the scroll. A lot of the scrolls, such as the scroll of forbidden seals, were already moved and put under heavy lock and key but there were many others that weren't nearly as dangerous but should still have been put under lock and key. Naruto, Hinata and Gaara searched for a long time but found nothing.

"Konohamaru-chan?" asked Hinata.

"Yes," called Konohamaru looking up from his reverie from his grandfather's seat.

"Do you know if your grandpa kept a special scroll for Naruto?" asked Hinata.

"Yeah, there was a scroll from someone name Arashi for Naruto-nichan," said Konohamaru looking concentrate.

"Do you remember where he kept it?" asked Hinata.

"Yeah," said Konohamaru jumping up and running into the closet which was soon followed by a muffle yell.

"What's that Konohamaru?" asked Naruto as he went to help the boy.

"It's not here," Konohamaru yelled again, "Grandpa always kept that scroll together with forbidden scroll in here. But they are both gone."

"They must have moved it to a safe place," said Hinata trying not to show any worry.

Naruto though remained stoic as he left the office.

Gaara and Hinata could both feel the repressed killer intent. Luckily Konohamaru was clueless.

"You should go on home Konohamaru, you're mother is probably worried," said Hinata before she hurried after Naruto to stop him from doing something stupid.

Luckily he didn't go too far. In fact, he only went just down the hall to the council chambers which happened to be in session before he slammed the doors open angrily.

"This is a closed session young man," said one of the council members.

"ANBU, execute this spy now," said another who looked at the boy with disgust. Lucky for Naruto, not one ANBU moved an inch.

"I said execute him," said the same angry councilman.

"With all due respect Yoroichi-sama," said the ANBU captain, "This boy is less likely to be a spy than you are now shut up and sit down before we decide to execute you."

With that the councilman paled and sat down heavily.

"What is the meaning of this?" asked another councilman formally but it was easy to see there was more hate in that man's eyes than any other in the room.

"I want my scroll," said Naruto simply.

"What scroll would that be?" asked the same hateful man.

"The scroll my father left in Sandaime-sama's care to give to me. The scroll that Sandaime said I should collect from his office just before he died. The scroll that will teach me my father's techniques. The scroll from Kazama Arashi to his only son Kazama Naruto also known as Uzumaki Naruto. That scroll, the one that was moved along with the forbidden scroll. You've taken it and I want it."

"I don't know what you're talking about boy," said the same hateful man. It was evident in the man's eyes that he wasn't telling the truth. He was not a skilled shinobi and was not as adept at hiding the truth though he was skilled in the subject matter as a politician.

"You will return it to me now," said Naruto adamantly trying to prevent Kyubi's chakra from leaking out.

"You will leave these chambers now," said the same man, "You are not welcome here. Now get out or I will have the ANBU escort you out and that is one order they will follow without question."

"You've made a grave mistake," said Naruto before he left the room doing his utmost to control himself and not kill the entire council at once.

Gaara watched the events unfold and didn't like it anymore than Naruto did but he respected Naruto's choice to be restrained and followed after silently.

"I congratulate you elder council," said Hinata in an ice cold voice, "You've just lost the support of the Hyuga Clan." With that Hinata chased after Naruto in a hurry.

"Damn demons," said one of the councilmen after the trio had left, "Now not only do we have the old one but we've got two of them now. It's an infestation I tell you."

"Elder council," spoke up the ANBU captain, "You've now lost the protection of the ANBU. Until there is a new Hokage appointed and we are ordered to protect you, you can fend for yourselves." With that the ANBU captain and the remaining guards vanished.

"What have you fools done?" asked one of the only councilmen that realized exactly how much sway the boy had over the shinobi in the village. Naruto's weapons were already legendary amongst all the shinobi in the village. He was a bright star within their ranks and commanded more respect than the last Uchiha did. And with his presence in trying to help Sandaime fight off Orochimaru his popularity had grown even further. Despite the ignorance of the villagers and the other councilmen, this one man was aware just how powerful the boy would grow to be. And now that the boy knew of his heritage he would only grow stronger with time.

"The shinobi will once again be at our beck and call once we have appointed a new Hokage," said another man confidently.

"And who are we to appoint?" asked another.

"Jiraiya-sama is in town," said another, "He would be ideal, even if he is a pervert. He is strong and capable and probably the only one strong enough to face Orochimaru."

"Agreed," came the unanimous consent of the council including the one that knew of Naruto's growth within the village.

**BREAK**

Naruto stormed off mumbling things like 'ignorant ass fucking whores' and several other explicative that weren't proper to be used in public or in the presence of others.

Hinata and Gaara both followed at a distance arguing over who should talk to him.

"You can protect yourself with your sand," said Hinata, "I'd be crushed instantly."

"He can easily break my sand," Gaara argued back, "He loves you. He'd never hurt you or even think about it for a second."

Luckily for both of them Jiraiya happened to find the group first.

"Ah, just the three people I wanted to see," said Jiraiya with a grin that was immediately destroyed by Naruto's fist.

Hinata smiled before approaching Naruto, "There now, feeling better?"

Naruto nodded, "a little."

"Better than nothing I suppose," said Hinata, "I'm sorry about the council. This village is awful to you. It is so unfair."

"I'm used to it," said Naruto, "It just hurts that the only thing my father left for me was a scroll that the elders refuse to give to me because of the damn fuzz-ball."

"Don't worry," said Hinata, "I'm sure the new Hokage will straighten everything out."

Naruto nodded before he finally noticed the pervert's lower body sticking out of a nearby wall.

Once Jiraiya had been set free and revived he wasn't happy, "You little punk. Here I come to offer to teach you a technique and this is how you treat me."

Naruto rolled his eyes, "I'm sorry. I was really angry. That stupid village council refuses to fulfill Sandaime's wishes just because I'm there awful little demonic secret the stupid bastards . . ."

Naruto had known Jiraiya a long time or at least he liked to think he had and never in all the time had he known him had he ever seen Jiraiya so livid.

"You three stay here for a few minutes," said Jiraiya before he vanished looking rather severe.

"And I thought Naruto was angry," whispered Gaara to Hinata who just nodded in agreement.

The pervert returned a few minutes later as promised with a smirk on his face.

"You didn't kill them did you?" asked Naruto curiously, "Because if you did I would like to have helped."

"I did nothing of the sort," said Jiraiya trying not to laugh at Naruto's cheek, "I just convinced them to let me take the two of you away for a while to find an old friend of mine."

"Tsunade-sama?" asked Hinata excited, "She was your teammate right? The legendary healer?"

Jiraiya laughed out loud at the excited look on the girl's face, "The very same."

"What about Gaara?" asked Naruto, "Shouldn't he come with us?"

"He'll be fine here. The fact that he is here now is relatively unknown so we don't have to worry. Besides, there is some training he is in desperate need of," said Jiraiya.

"What training would that be?" asked Naruto curiously.

"Have you met a Jounin by the name of Maito Gai?" asked Jiraiya.

Naruto burst out laughing before falling to the ground unable to stand any longer.

"I don't see what's so funny," said Jiraiya.

"Naruto-kun and I have trained with Gai-sensei for some time now. I believe Naruto-kun is laughing because he is imagining Gaara-kun's reaction to the man," said Hinata trying to stifle her own giggle.

"I see," said Jiraiya as he studied Gaara and tried to suppress his own laughter. "Anyway, I've already asked Gai to train Gaara's Taijutsu while we are away."

"Where can I find this Maito Gai?" asked Gaara not liking the obvious humor the others found in the situation.

"He's always on training field 17 with his prize pupil Lee," said Hinata, "He'll seem rather strange but he can train you really well in Taijutsu."

"So be it," said Gaara disappearing in a whirl of sand.

"How come everyone but me has cool Jutsu to appear and disappear?" asked Naruto slightly miffed, "Yo, Ero-Sennin, I want you to teach me something like that."

"Feh," said Jiraiya, "I have something better to teach you than that."

Naruto knew what was coming but jumped up excitedly anyway, "What? What is it?"

"Not now," said Jiraiya, "We should be going now. Meet me at the gates in an hour."

Naruto and Hinata nodded only to see Jiraiya disappear in a puff of smoke.

"Damn it," shouted Naruto frustrated slightly with all the other shinobi knowing how to vanish like that while he didn't.

"We should go see Gai-sensei quickly to get our gravity seals replaced and then go pack to meet Ero-Sennin-sama," said Hinata.

Naruto nodded and followed Hinata.

**BREAK**

"So what is this technique you're going to teach me?" asked Naruto.

"It was the fourth strongest technique," said Jiraiya, "We'll start when we reach our destination."

"One of dad's techniques," said Naruto excitedly.

Jiraiya seemed very surprised, "Who told you?"

"The old man did before he died," said Naruto, "Orochimaru knows too."

"He already knew," said Jiraiya, "So don't you worry about that. However, now that you know, I can't stress how important it is that no one else finds out."

"Of course not," said Naruto, "I know that Yondaime had a lot of enemies and if they were to find out he had a son I would have even more problems than I do right now."

Jiraiya nodded as they continued walking.

"Um . . ." mumbled Hinata, "What will I be learning?"

Jiraiya smiled, "I wondered if you would be asking me that anytime soon. Now, you know that Tsunade is an expert medic-nin. She's also a horrible gambler and a bit of a drunk. You need to impress her enough for her to take you on as a student. You have two options, one, make a bet with her that she bound to lose or two learn one of her hardest techniques."

"Like what?" asked Hinata.

"Like this," said Jiraiya tossing her a scroll, "Tsunade isn't only known for her healing and gambling but also for her freakish strength. That is just the starter scroll for the technique she uses. I don't expect you'll make much progress with it and if she knew I'd given you such a technique she'd probably kill me. Oh well, do what you can I'll deal with the consequences later."

Hinata nodded as she started studying the scroll and walking along behind them.

Several hours later the three entered a large gambling town that was in the middle of festival.

"Okay, training time," said Naruto as soon as they entered the city.

"Why don't you two go enjoy the festival and I'll see if I can't get us any leads?" suggested Jiraiya, "But first do you have any money?"

"No," answered Naruto quickly knowing that Jiraiya would just take it.

"A little," said Hinata not sure why Naruto lied.

"Let's have it then," said Jiraiya holding out his hand to Hinata.

She hand him her little Kitsune-chan coin purse which was fat from the money she had in it.

Jiraiya took all of it and hander her and Naruto each 5,000 ryou, "Money will spoil good Shinobi." He then walked away with a big grin on his face.

"But that was my money," said Hinata in shock.

Naruto though just grinned as he took out his very fat Gama-chan coin purse and showed it to Hinata.

"So that's why you lied," said Hinata.

"I don't trust anyone with my money but me and you and maybe Gaara someday," said Naruto with a snicker.

"From now on, me too," said Hinata taking Naruto's hand and dragging him off to see the different stands. By the end Naruto's poor Gama-chan was completely deflated and empty thanks to Hinata's desire for stuffed animals and other pretty things. Naruto was quickly changing his opinion of trusting Hinata with his money.

"I'm sorry for spending all of your money Naruto-kun," said Hinata, "I've just never been able to have so much fun at festival before. Father always wants us to be formal and proper and playing games at festival is neither of those things."

"Don't worry about it," said Naruto, "It was worth it."

Hinata smiled and then kissed Naruto in thanks leaving him in a daze having forgotten to slap him awake. After that Naruto just followed the girl around completely oblivious to his surroundings. He even ignored Kyubi's mumbling about 'stupid humans' and their 'stupid emotions'.

"Hey Hinata, what's up with the look on his face?" asked Jiraiya looking at Naruto for the first time since they'd met up nearly an hour ago.

Hinata seemed confused and then looked at Naruto before she realized the problem and slapped him hard.

"Hey, how did we get here?" asked Naruto looking around to see they were in a hotel room.

Hinata blushed and the whispered in his ear.

"Oh yeah," said Naruto blushing, "I've really got to work on that."

"We can practice later," said Hinata boldly causing a small trickle of blood to come from Naruto's nose.

Jiraiya though knew something perverted was happening he just couldn't figure out exactly what that was as he studied the two before him. His 'pervy-sense' was working overtime as a result.

The next day and in the next town Jiraiya still wasn't sure what was happening between the two youths as a result he needed to get his pervert fix for the day and left the pair to settle into a hotel room alone.

"Naruto-kun," said Hinata with a bright red blush.

"Yeah," said Naruto trying to meditate as they had been instructed.

"Do you want to practice now?" asked Hinata blushing even more.

Naruto cracked one eye curiously, "I thought we were practicing already."

Hinata seemed to blush even more. Sometimes Naruto's denseness really got on her nerves, especially at time like this. "Kissing."

This time Naruto blushed, "Oh, that practice . . . um . . . sure, okay."

Hinata and Naruto both scooted closer to each other.

"Maybe, you could slap me first this time and then kiss me," said Naruto trying his best not to blush.

Hinata blushed heavily but nodded. With a single swift slap across his face she followed up by kissing him only this time he was kissing her back and it was pure heaven as far as she was concerned. Unfortunately it wasn't to last, as someone decided to knock on the door. She was livid. She finally got the kiss from Naruto that she'd been dreaming of for weeks . . . no months, and now it was being interrupted by some damn annoying housekeeper.

"Naruto-kun, go hang a 'do-not-disturb' sign," said Hinata breaking the kiss.

Naruto seemed equally annoyed at the interruption. He was finally able to fully enjoy a kiss from Hinata and now it was being interrupted.

There was a second knock.

Now annoyed even more he stalked to the door with a bit of Kyubi leaking out showing his annoyance at the interruption. Worse, they seemed to be rather persistent as they knocked for a third time. Somewhere in the back of his mind something was bothering him but at the moment he only had one thing on his mind and that was to kiss Hinata for the rest of his life.

Naruto swung the door open wide, "This had better be damn important or I swear I'm going to kill you where you stand."

"I'd like to see you try brat," said a gravelly voice.

Naruto looked up at the source and suddenly that nagging feeling he'd been having returned in full force.

"Shit," he mumbled even more annoyed, "You know, you two assholes picked a really bad time to show up. I know you've got an agenda to keep and capturing the Jinchuriki for whatever evil purpose your group has is important but I was really enjoying kissing my girlfriend. So do me a huge favor, come back in like, six hours."

The pair in the hall seemed stunned by what the boy just said and then they were more stunned when he just closed the door in their faces.

"Did he really just do that?" asked the gravelly voice.

"I think he did," said a rather silky voice.

"Oh hell no," said the gravelly voice as he pounded on the door nearly breaking through it.

Inside Naruto had just started kissing Hinata again when the pounding on the door began again.

"Hinata, stay here and no matter what happens, do not move. I'll be back shortly to finish what we started," said Naruto as he stood and walked toward the door building up Kyubi's chakra as he released the Gravity seal on his body.

Hinata was equally miffed but seeing Naruto like that was enough to convince her to remain where she was. Whoever was outside that door was about to be introduced to hell on earth.

Naruto opened the door again simply pissed off, "You stupid assholes, you couldn't just let me enjoy that for a little while could you? Now, I'm pissed off."

"I like this kid," said the gravelly voiced man, "He's got moxie."

"Let's make this quick," said the silky voice.

"If you want to make this quick Itachi why don't you just use that special Sharingan of yours on me," suggested Naruto trying to hide his smirk. Boy would Itachi be in for one hell of a surprise.

"As you wish," said Itachi locking eyes with Naruto only to find he was suddenly looking into Kyubi's eyes. More importantly he was standing just in front of the demon just inside the cage, how he got there he wasn't exactly sure.

"I may not be able to kill you in here, but I can sure as hell enjoy torturing you," said Kyubi with a sickening animalistic grin.

For the first time in his life Itachi felt immense fear and horrible pain throughout his body.

In the hall Kisame stared in awe as his partner began to scream holding his head in pain and then drop to his knees and curl up into a ball and begin to sob uncontrollably.

"Now that he's out of the way," said Naruto looking to the fish man, "So, fishy, your turn now."

Kisame panicked and grabbed his partner and ran for it vanishing just as Ero-Sennin turned the corner of the hall holding a beautiful woman over his shoulder.

Jiraiya had seen many things in his life but for him to see Uchiha Itachi sobbing like a little girl as he and his partner ran for it was definitely one for the record books.

As soon as Itachi and Kisame vanished Naruto dropped to the ground breathing heavily and sweating profusely.

Jiraiya rushed down the hall to check on the boy, "Naruto, what happened?"

"Soul of the Slaying Demon," said Naruto, "I reversed Itachi's Mangekyou Sharingan by trapping him inside my head with Kyubi. It was rather weak and definitely not strong enough to kill him but he'll definitely think twice about ever coming after me again."

"You can do that?" asked Jiraiya.

"Yeah, but it sucks," said Naruto, "It took nearly all of my chakra and as much of Kyubi's chakra as I am capable of using for it to work on him. If you hadn't arrived when you did, Kisame would have killed me for sure."

"But he was already fleeing?" questioned Jiraiya.

"I bluffed," said Naruto, "He was so panicked that I took out Itachi so easily that he ran for it."

"You were damn lucky," said Jiraiya, "Don't think you'll ever get away with that again."

"I know," said Naruto, "Now go away, Hinata and I have some unfinished business to attend to."

"Eh?" Jiraiya was definitely confused as Naruto stood and stumbled into the hotel room and closed the door causing Jiraiya's 'pervy-sense' to go into massive overdrive.

**BREAK**

"Okay brat," said Jiraiya as he tossed Naruto a water-balloon.

"What's this for?" asked Naruto.

Jiraiya then held out his hand with his own water balloon, "Watch carefully," the balloon then expanded in several directions at once before exploding.

"Cool," said Naruto as he held the balloon in his hand. He was actually challenged while trying to do the Rasengan's early stage, but after a few minutes the balloon burst, "This is easy, what's next?"

Jiraiya looked at Naruto stunned. It shouldn't have been possible for him to have learned that so easily but he did it all the same.

"Ah, I see you saw the trick," said Jiraiya acting as though he knew Naruto would figure it out easily, "The first stage is all about control which you seemed to have ace, now let's see if you have power and control." Jiraiya then tossed him a thicker rubber ball.

Naruto seemed to consider the ball for a moment, "It is gonna be a lot harder huh?"

"Much harder indeed, but don't worry, you might get it in a few years," said Jiraiya with a confident smirk.

Naruto was peeved with the pervert's attitude, "Oh yeah, well watch this Ero-Sennin," the ball then shredded in all directions a moment later.

Now Jiraiya couldn't hide his surprise.

"Ha, and you said it would take a few years," said Naruto boastfully just to annoy the pervert.

"Do it again," said Jiraiya throwing him a ball.

Just as the first one did this second one was shredded in seconds.

"Is that all of the technique?" asked Naruto.

"No, now comes the really hard part," said Jiraiya as he formed a perfect Rasengan in his hand, "Now you have to have control, power, and speed and then compress it all in an instant."

Naruto raised an eyebrow as he studied the pervert's hand.

Naruto then held out his own hand and the chakra began to gather rapidly, even faster than Jiraiya's had gathered and within seconds a ball that was the same as Jiraiya's had formed except slightly larger and spinning much faster, "Is this it? Did I get it right?"

Jiraiya's jaw dropped. There was no way that Naruto could have learned his prize student's prize Jutsu in just a few minutes time. "How could you learn it so fast? Even I took years to learn this. It took Arashi three years just to create it."

"I don't know," said Naruto, "It just made sense to me. My chakra control is really good from training with Ikugachi-sensei and my power is excellent thanks to training with Gai-sensei. My Taijutsu style is the same as father used to use and this technique seems to be designed for it. So, it just made sense to me. Is it bad?"

"No," said Jiraiya emphatically, "It's not bad at all. In fact it is really good. I am extremely impressed with you. Your father would be really proud too."

"You think?" asked Naruto excited to think his father would approve.

"Trust me Naruto," said Jiraiya, "He would be very proud of you this day. Well, since you know this I have one more treat for you." Jiraiya then reached into his pouch and removed a scroll which he then tossed to Naruto.

Naruto examined the scroll closely. It was labeled simply, 'To Naruto Fm Arashi'. "My father's scroll, the council refused to give it to me. How did you . . ."

"They gave it to me when I agreed to go find Tsunade, though they weren't very happy about it," said Jiraiya.

"Can you help me learn it?"

"I'm afraid it would do no good for me to help you with that technique," said Jiraiya, "Your father spent years developing that technique, it is your families legacy, your ultimate Hijutsu, the Shunshin no Jutsu."

"Body flicker?" asked Naruto confused.

"You wanted a technique that would allow you to appear and disappear well this is it. This technique is the pinnacle of speed technique, you literally move faster than the speed of light. The only sign that you are using it right is the slight flicker of your body before you vanish." Jiraiya then chuckled, "I remember the first time you father used the technique successfully, he ended up somewhere Hidden Mist Village. It also earned him the nick name the Yellow-Flash."

"Yellow-Flash?"

Jiraiya chuckled again, "Yeah, he ended up in a women bath house with his pants down around his ankles. He, like you, was blond from head to toe so when he flashed the ladies there he earned the nickname."

"Now I know you're lying," said Naruto with a sour look.

"Am not, where do you think he met your mother?" asked Jiraiya with a giant smirk, "She was the only women there to forget her modesty and beat the crap out him. Little did he know that she was the daughter of the Lord of Fire country. You can only imagine the surprised look on both their faces when he was assigned to guard her a year later for her annual trip to Hidden Mist Village for her vacation. They fell in love on that trip and married about a year later, just after he'd been promoted to Hokage. They married in secret, it was a small ceremony, just her father and myself as witnesses. Her father died a month later, it was believe Orochimaru got to him as vengeance against your father's promotion. You see, Orochimaru believed that your father got the job over him because he married the Lord's only daughter, not because he was just that much better. Anyway, you better get to work."

"Thank you for telling me about my mother and father," said Naruto seriously, "It means a lot to me."

"Don't worry about it kid, now get to work," said Jiraiya, "I have to go check on your girlfriend."

"Tell her I say hi," said Naruto as he sat down and unfurled the scroll and began reading.

Jiraiya shook his head and laughed. It was going to be so much fun teasing him and Hinata about the girlfriend comment.

Jiraiya found Hinata still pounding away at the same tree though she wasn't making much head way and her hands were starting to bleed.

"Hinata, relax for a bit," said Jiraiya as he took a seat nearby, "So, making any progress?"

"No," said Hinata with a heavy sigh, "I just don't get it, it should be working."

"Anyway, your boyfriend says hi," said Jiraiya.

"How is he? Did he learn that technique yet?" asked Hinata.

"Yes, the little brat," said Jiraiya, "It took me three years to learn that technique and he learned it in three minutes. Hell, it took his father three years just to create the technique."

Hinata smiled, "He learns fast when he wants to."

"I see, then did he learn his lessons from you yesterday?" asked Jiraiya slyly.

"I don't know what you're talking about Ero-Sennin-sama," said Hinata feigning ignorance.

"Fine, be that way," said Jiraiya, "Just a suggestion, try that technique using only one finger. It's easier to focus on a finger than an entire hand."

Hinata was confused but decided to try it his way anyway. Once he left she resumed her work on the tree yielding only a slight bit more success than before.

**BREAK**

Weeks passed with Jiraiya getting drunk and fooling around with any girl that would give him the time. It didn't make much sense to Naruto as it seemed to be a waste of time however that didn't stop him taking advantage of the time available to him to train.

Finally, Jiraiya joined the pair one afternoon, "I've finally got a lead on Tsunade, it seems she's in Tanzaku City."

"How do you know she'll still be there when we get there?" asked Hinata.

"She might not be but at least we have her trail now," said Jiraiya, "We'll start looking there and hopefully get a lead to where she is going."

Hinata and Naruto nodded and followed Jiraiya out of town.

It was only a half day's walk to Tanzaku City but it was far enough for Naruto to have smashed into several trees attempting the Shunshin movement.

"One of these times he's going to run through a tree," said Jiraiya with a laugh as Hinata helped Naruto to stand once again. "Don't worry kid, you'll get it eventually."

On the outskirts of town they could see a lot of debris in the air.

"Well, seems there might be trouble, let's go you two," said Jiraiya as he leapt on to the closest roof top.

They arrived moments later to see a collapse castle and signs that a giant snake had been there as well as a perfectly smashed wall section that was no doubt Tsunade's doing.

"She still here but not for much longer," said Jiraiya.

"And so is Orochimaru," said Naruto examining the snake damage.

"There were five people here," said Hinata as she examined the area with her Byakugan.

"Orochimaru must have brought reinforcements to help him along," said Naruto, "He must be looking for Tsunade to heal him after his fight with Sandaime."

"Hmm, things are worse than I thought," said Jiraiya, "We have to hurry. You two take this picture and start looking for her and I'll do the same."

Naruto and Hinata nodded before vanishing.

Naruto had a better way of searching in mind. "Hey, ojisan, where do they sell the best sake in town?"

The old man in question was a small shopkeeper, "Ain't you a bit young to be drinking sake?"

"It's not for me," said Naruto, "My old man wants the best and sent me out to find it."

"You want to go to Bansai then," said the shopkeeper.

"Thank ojisan," said Naruto as he ran off with Hinata.

"Naruto-kun, why are you asking about sake? Aren't we supposed to look for Tsunade-hime?"

"We are," said Naruto with a wink.

"What do you mean?"

"Okay, picture this, you just met a man who killed your teacher, threatened you with something severe. You're stressed out, maybe even a little panicked. If you could, wouldn't you want the best sake in town too?" asked Naruto.

Hinata nodded, "But I thought she likes to gamble?"

"She does," said Naruto, "But drinking is her second favorite pastime."

A few minutes later they found the Bansai and entered. Naruto approached the host first, "Excuse me, I'm looking for this woman, have you seen her?" He then showed the picture to the host.

"She sitting over there," said the host pointing to the loud drunk woman in a corner booth.

"Is that really her?" asked Hinata.

"Yep," said Naruto with a grimace. Sometimes seeing our hero's in real life can be a bit of a let down.

"Kuchiyose no Jutsu," said Naruto softly calling up Gamakichi.

"Yo, Naruto man, what's up?"

"Can you go find Jiraiya, tell him where we are and that we've found Tsunade?" requested Naruto.

Gamakichi nodded and hopped away.

"Should we wait for him?" asked Hinata nervously.

"Nah," said Naruto as he approached the table Shizune and Tsunade were sitting at.

"Do I know you brat?" asked Tsunade rather abrasively.

"Not yet," said Naruto with a grin, "But I can guarantee that after today you'll never forget me."

Tsunade chuckled, "You've got some nerve talking to me like that brat."

"And you've got some nerve talking to me like that Obaachan," said Naruto with a devious grin.

"Who you calling old shorty?" asked Tsunade.

"You Obaachan," said Naruto cockily. He knew he was pissing her off but right now she really needed to be pissed off.

"Tsunade-sama, please calm down, he's just a child," said Shizune.

"Good job Naruto, you've only found her five minutes ago and already you've managed to piss her off," said Jiraiya coming up behind the group with Hinata hot on his heals.

"Jiraiya, what the hell do you want?" asked the voluptuous woman as she sipped back on some more sake.

"Can't an old friend visit with another old friend?" asked Jiraiya as he took a seat.

"I've been visited by a lot of old friends today," said Tsunade as she took a long pull on her sake bottle.

"Who was with Orochimaru?" asked Naruto, "What did they look like?"

"Who is the brat?" asked Tsunade ignoring his questions.

"Naruto," said Jiraiya, "Calm down, there is no need to hurry."

"Yes there is," said Naruto, "Orochimaru is obviously not well enough to come here on his own, I can understand bringing one person, a medic maybe, but for him to have two escorts give great cause for concern. Now damn it, answer my question you old hag."

"One had silver hair and glasses, he seemed to be a skilled medic-nin," said Shizune interrupting the oncoming argument.

"Shit, then Kabuto survived Gaara's attack, damn slippery bastard. What about the other one?"

"He had white hair with two dots on his forehead, he seemed very ill himself," said Shizune.

"Shit, then Kimimaro is with him too," said Naruto.

"Who?" asked Jiraiya.

"The last of the Kaguya clan, the bone users," said Naruto, "Sandaime told me about Orochimaru's personal guard before the attack began. I was surprised when he wasn't there but now that I know he's ill . . ."

"Things are indeed more severe than I thought," said Jiraiya, "I'm sorry Tsunade but I don't have time to bull shit with you tonight, you need to return to Konoha and take the title of Hokage."

"Hokage is a shit title, why would I want it? Everyone who takes that title dies," said Tsunade.

"Better to die for something than for nothing you old hag," said Naruto more than annoyed, "But then you wouldn't know about dieing for anything you've ever believed in." Naruto knew that was way below the belt but he needed to get her pissed off enough to make some stupid as bet with him.

"Step outside," said Tsunade coldly as she let the restaurant.

"I hope you know you've really pissed her off this time," said Jiraiya.

"Good, she needs to be pissed off," said Naruto, "Running from the past solves nothing, trust me, I know."

For some reason Jiraiya had a feeling that Naruto did know though he didn't like what it implied.

Tsunade stood a good distance from Naruto holding out a single finger, "I'll use just one finger, that's all it will take to beat you."

"You wish," said Naruto with a confident smirk.

"Why does Hokage mean so much to you brat?"

"Because, unlike you, I would be proud to die protecting the Village, and that's why, someday, I'm going to take the title of Hokage," said Naruto waiting for the first opening to show itself.

Tsunade was caught off guard by the comment and looked away briefly. It was all the opening Naruto needed.

He vanished from sight and attacked with a spinning round house kick.

Tsunade was so surprised by the speed she could react in time to completely block the kick. "That's the last time you'll ever hit me boy."

Naruto just grinned, "I haven't even tapped into Kyubi yet, how can you be so confident?"

Tsunade again was caught off guard by the comment causing her to be unable to block a series of six fast hits that came from all angles.

"I'll admit kid, you're good, but I guess I should get serious now," said Tsunade more than a little pissed off.

"Hah, yeah right," said Naruto, "You and I both know that I'm only playing with you. Do you really think getting serious while you're still drunk is going to help you at all?"

Suddenly Tsunade vanished and Naruto took a heavy punch to the stomach only to explode in a puff of smoke. "Kage Bunshin?" questioned Tsunade as she turned quickly to block the next hit from Naruto.

"Getting slow in your old age," said Naruto playfully.

Tsunade was just getting more and more pissed off only to get more and more sloppy.

"I think it's time to end this," said Naruto standing a good hundred feet away from her.

"I'm going to kill you brat," said Tsunade.

Naruto's body suddenly flickered slightly only to vanish. A loud explosion next to her sent debris everywhere. When the smoke cleared it showed that Naruto had run into a wall

"Ouch," said Naruto as he picked himself up, "I've still got to work on that one."

"Jiraiya," said Tsunade, "What were thinking teaching him the Shunshin? How the hell do you even know the Shunshin?"

"I don't, Arashi left it in a scroll for Naruto to learn," said Jiraiya.

"Hah, as if this no talent kid could learn it," said Tsunade with a laugh.

"Oh yeah," said Naruto now that he'd stood up again, "Want to bet?"

Shizune and Jiraiya both knew right then that Naruto had said the magic words.

"Name the stakes?"

"If I learn Shunshin perfect in a week, you have to become the next Hokage," said Naruto.

"I'll even sweeten the deal, if you win, you get this necklace," said Tsunade showing it to Naruto, "But if you lose, you have to quit being a shinobi forever."

"Deal," said Naruto offering her his hand to shake.

"Naruto, you do realize it took your father seven years to finally get the technique right and then it took two years more to replicate it successfully every time," said Jiraiya slightly worried about the bet.

"I made a promise and I never back out on my promise, that's my nindo," said Naruto, "Now, if you'll excuse me I have a technique to master and a bet to win."

Jiraiya just chuckled and returned to the group.

"Tsunade-sama, that was a bit foolish," said Shizune chiding her sensei.

"He'll never win," said Tsunade with a snort of confidence.

"You've made a grave mistake Tsunade-hime, Naruto has never failed or lost a bet," said Hinata confidently, "You're going to lose the bet."

"A Hyuga?" questioned Tsunade, "Jiraiya, since when do you travel with a Hyuga?"

"She is on Naruto's team and an aspiring medic-nin," said Jiraiya, "She actually shows more promise than you did at the same age."

"Really now?" asked Tsunade before she looked back at Hinata, "What's your name?"

"Hyuga Hinata," she replied a bit uncomfortable with Tsunade's gaze on her.

"And I suppose the pervert brought you along in the hopes of convincing me to teach you?" Tsunade asked already knowing the answer. "Well, if you want me to teach you let me give you your first lesson. Quit, give up and go home, there is nothing I can teach you that will save you."

Hinata's resolve shook for a moment then her face hardened, "You were once what I aspired to become. Now I know that I can never be like you."

"And don't you forget that . . ."

"I will be better than you because not only will I be an amazing medic-nin but I will be willing to protect what I care for," said Hinata before she turned to leave.

"Insolent whelps," said Tsunade with a bit of a drunken slur before she hit the ground with a finger sending a fissure at the retreating Hinata.

Hinata though saw it coming and turned and struck the ground with her own finger creating a fissure to cancel it out. Hinata glared at Tsunade before turning and leaving again.

"Jiraiya," yelled Tsunade as she turned to look for the pervert, "Where the hell is he?"

"He left," said Shizune cowering slightly.

"We're leaving," said Tsunade.

Shizune followed obediently but said nothing for a long while.

"Can you believe those punks?" asked Tsunade after they walked back to their hotel.

"They were rather impressive," said Shizune, "I imagine in a few years there won't be a shinobi alive anywhere that can lay a finger on them."

"You think so?" asked Tsunade, "That Hyuga was a bit impressive, using my technique like that and all."

"Even I haven't been able to master it," said Shizune not looking up, "And with her Byakugan eyes she could be . . ."

"You were the last apprentice I will ever teach," said Tsunade ending the discussion.

"I understand," said Shizune, "Still, I wonder . . ."

"That brat is more obnoxious than Jiraiya ever was," said Tsunade.

"Do you think he will ever learn . . ."

"That boy has no talent and will never become anything," said Tsunade slightly doubting her words now that she was beginning to sober up.

Shizune chose then to wisely shut up.

Meanwhile Hinata chased after Naruto to help him train.

"What can I do to help Naruto-kun?" asked Hinata.

"The Jutsu relies heavily on my ability to focus on a specific target or destination. Once I can do that and hit my target accurately I can very my movement quickly enough to be able to move and attack without ever being seen. The trouble is with focusing on the target and performing the technique at the same time," explained Naruto.

"So you need a focus?" asked Hinata, "Could I act as a focus?"

"You definitely could," said Naruto, "In fact that is just what I was thinking of exactly that."

Hinata nodded and moved about ten yards away from Naruto, "We'll start of close and slowly increase the distance. Okay?"

"Sounds great," said Naruto with a nod as he tried the technique only to end up crashing into a tree thirty yards to her left causing her to wince in sympathy. Hinata knew then it was going to be a very long week.

It took three days of crashing into trees and tripping over his own feet before he finally successfully got to Hinata and even then he was off by two yards to the right.

Hinata finally had enough of standing around and decided that if she was going to be standing around she could have a little fun at Naruto's expense.

"Naruto-kun," said Hinata in a seductive voice to Naruto as he lined up to try it again suddenly catching his attention, "I'm lonely over here all by my lonesome, don't you want to keep me closer company?" She bit her lip trying not to smile and give away her game.

Naruto swallowed very nervously at what Hinata was suggesting.

"If you can get to me ten times in a row perfectly I'll give you a big surprise," she said huskily.

Naruto swallowed even harder this time, he suddenly had no more issues with focusing on his goal.

Naruto flickered for only a second before he appeared before Hinata perfectly, "That's one, now only nine more to go." Hinata then skipped ten yards away again for him to try it once more.

Naruto got it right five times before he tripped over a loose rock causing him to start over again with a bit more seductive teasing from Hinata. Naruto must have tried nearly a hundred times more before he was able to get it ten times in a row perfectly.

"Very good Naruto-kun," said Hinata taking off her jacket and tossing it over a tree branch, "Now, do that from twenty yards twenty times and I'll give you and even better surprise."

Naruto by now was having some very strange feelings in his stomach as he noticed her tight fitting sleeveless shirt. He swallowed hard and too fearful to trust himself to speak he just nodded his agreement.

Hours passed once more with Naruto trying and succeeding as well as failing. Finally Naruto was successful in reaching her twenty times in a row. As a reward she took off her shoes and socks.

Hinata smile seductively once again, "Now, I now you want this surprise so thirty times in a row from thirty yards."

Naruto nodded emphatically.

Hinata had to stifle a laugh, it was far too easy for her to manipulate Naruto like this and while it might have been a bit devious it seemed to be working well enough. She was using this time too to get as comfortable around Naruto as possible.

This time Naruto didn't struggle nearly as much now that he was getting used to the movement at such a high speed. He found that a lot of it was just tuning his reflexes to react to the changes in the terrain. Part of it too left him wishing he had the Byakugan so that he could see all the different obstacles as they appeared. However, even without the Byakugan eyes his reflexes were improving rapidly and so was his ability to use the Shunshin no Jutsu.

This time Naruto took far less time to travel thirty yards thirty times in a row and was rewarded when Hinata seductively slid her pants off to reveal black skintight spandex short that were cut very low. It took all of his effort not to get a bloody nose.

Hinata was trying not to blush because she knew that if she did then the seductive factor would vanish and Naruto would lose his focus. Hinata looked over her shoulder at the drooling boy and winked, "Now catch me one hundred times and you'll get the surprise of your life."

Naruto barely snapped out of it as Hinata began moving as fast as she could quickly changing direction every few seconds. Naruto chased her using only Shunshin but because she frequently changed directions he often overshot her or couldn't turn rapidly enough.

After he caught her twenty times she made it that much harder for him by changing directions right next to trees or large boulders or rock faces. Occasionally, she would even turn and head right at him meaning he ran way past her and usually tripped trying to stop and turn so rapidly. Naruto quickly learned the trick to turning so quickly was not using his physical body but pushing out just the right amount of chakra at the exact right moment from exactly the right places on his body. Needless to say it took him a long time to figure that out but he did it all the same just to earn his surprise from Hinata.

Finally Naruto caught her for the one hundredth time and it only took him six days, he still had one day to spare for working out the last few kinks. Sadly though, Naruto was unable to enjoy his final surprise as he fell into a deep sleep. He'd not only exhausted all his own chakra but he also exhausted everything that Kyubi was able to give him as well.

Hinata was a bit disappointed to see he fell asleep when she finally turned around wearing only her spandex shorts and sports bra. "Damn!"

Hinata put all her clothes back on and carried her sleeping hero back to the hotel to get some proper rest and relaxation.


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of the characters created by Kishimoto-sensei.

Hinata returned carrying Naruto over her shoulder and was surprised to be greeted by Shizune.

"What happened to him? Is he alright?"

"Just chakra exhaustion," said Hinata, "He'll be fine in the morning."

"But chakra exhaustion takes days to recover from," said Shizune.

"Not if you have a demon sealed inside you," said Hinata. Ever since she'd discovered his secret, she had spent many long hours studying the effects of the demon on Naruto's body and ability. Other than the difficulty in controlling the two separate chakras, there were only advantages to having the demon sealed inside him.

"You mean the Nine-Tails helps him?" asked Shizune.

"Yes," said Hinata as she carried Naruto into the room and put him on his bed.

"Do you want me to check him over just to be sure?" asked Shizune.

"No, he'll be fine, but you should be watching over Tsunade to make sure she doesn't do anything rash," said Hinata seriously.

"She's with Jiraiya now so she'll be fine," said Shizune.

"And you trust Ero-Sennin-Sama to watch over her?" asked Hinata. She may not have known Jiraiya for very long but she learned very quickly of his worst habits.

Shizune tried not to laugh at Jiraiya's nickname but couldn't stop herself despite the seriousness of the situation.

Hinata just sighed heavily, "Just go and please watch over them both."

Shizune nodded before leaving, still chuckling lightly.

Once Shizune was gone Hinata closed and sealed the doors and windows and made sure to close the blinds before she climbed into bed next to her Naruto-kun and fell asleep.

The next morning they were both awakened by Jiraiya and Shizune breaking through the seals and waking the pair up rather rudely.

"What are you two doing?" demanded Shizune.

Hinata glared at Shizune and Jiraiya, "Sleeping."

"No time for that now," said Jiraiya who was sweating profusely and looked as though he was about to be sick.

"What happened to you two?" asked Hinata noticing they were both in a bad way.

"Tsunade slipped us some kind of poison that has messed with our chakra system," said Shizune.

Hinata jumped out of the bed, still fully clothed with Byakugan activated, "I can't cure this, you have to let it run its course."

"I already knew that," said Shizune, "But we have to go after Tsunade now before she does something bad. We're in no shape to go on our own, so we'll need the both of you to help us."

Hinata then turned to wake Naruto who had somehow slept through the entire discussion and the breaking into the room. Hinata shook him but he only rolled over.

"Hinata-chan, you're such a pervert, don't touch me there," Naruto mumbled in his sleep.

Hinata blushed fiercely before she did a quick water Jutsu and doused him from head to toe in freezing cold water.

Naruto jumped out of bed sputtering and shivering from the cold.

"Maybe next time you'll wake up when I shake you," said Hinata coolly.

Naruto looked around him to see the state of Shizune and Jiraiya both, "She poisoned both of you. Morons."

"How did you know he did it?" asked Jiraiya suspiciously.

"It is the easiest way to get you both out of the way without killing you," said Naruto as he shivered from the cold water, "We don't have time to waste now, we've got to hurry."

"How do we find her?" asked Hinata just as a loud explosion sounded off.

"I say we just follow the path of destruction but that is just me," said Naruto sarcastically.

"Come on, we have to hurry," said Shizune as she took point followed closely by Hinata. Naruto followed next to Jiraiya.

"What did you want to talk to me about?" asked Jiraiya sensing there was something Naruto wanted to say to him.

"I know you're pretty messed up right now and so is Shizune," said Naruto, "But I need both of you to work together to keep Kabuto occupied. Use the 'Tear', it should hopefully compensate for a bit of your chakra problems and it will allow you to keep Kabuto at a safe distance so he can't use any of his medical Jutsu. His freakish healing will help him against the poison but even so, it should put you at least on equal footing with him given your current condition."

"What about you?" asked Jiraiya.

"I'll be taking care of Orochimaru," said Naruto.

"And the bone user, if he's there?" asked Jiraiya.

Naruto just smiled, "Hinata has him covered. I made sure she learned skills to deal with broken bones after our mission to Wave country. Part of that was how to use chakra to destroy bones as easily as repairing them."

"You're taking an awfully big risk," said Jiraiya.

"Given the state of things I can't see another way around it," Naruto said stoically.

"Alright then brat, we'll do things your way, just be careful. Though Orochimaru is injured badly, he is still a formidable opponent," said Jiraiya as he focused his eyes on the destination.

Within minutes they arrived to the sight of a panicking Tsunade covered in blood.

"We're just in time it seems," said Jiraiya trying to hide the effects of the poison from view if possible.

Kabuto was standing over Tsunade, while Kimimaro was standing guard over Orochimaru. It looked like Kabuto was able to repair Orochimaru's leg but his arms were still unusable.

Kabuto smirked confidently, "Ah, Naruto-kun and Hinata-chan, so nice to see you again, but tell me, where is your sand friend?"

"At home training," said Naruto with an equally irritating smirk, "I must say, you seem to be quite the mystery of powers. You've healed Orochimaru's leg but not his arms and more than that you healed yourself after being crushed by Gaara's sand."

This seemed to strike a nerve with Kabuto because he sneered and kicked Tsunade hard in the ribs, not that it did any real damage to her.

Naruto didn't like his response much because he vanished from sight only appear in front of Kabuto with his elbow driven hard into the man's solar plexus. Kabuto was thrown back from Tsunade landing and rolling a few times on the ground before coming to a slow rolling stop. Naruto could tell from the hit that he had broken most of Kabuto's ribs but that wouldn't prevent him from standing for very long.

Kabuto did in fact stand up again laughing, "Well, well, well, this is surprising. I haven't felt my blood boil like this in a very long time. This will certainly be fun."

"I don't have time to play with you Kabuto, Orochimaru is my target this time," said Naruto letting Kyubi come through in full force paralyzing Kabuto and Kimimaro both with the killing intent, even Orochimaru was a bit stunned at this level of control.

"Impressive," laughed Orochimaru, "If you wish to play with me then let's play."

Orochimaru's own killing intent began to leak through counter-balancing Naruto's and allowing his men to spread out.

"You all know what to do," said Naruto before he vanished striking at Orochimaru savagely with his clawed fingers hoping to rip the man limb from limb.

"My, so you really are the demon fox," said Orochimaru, "I'm greatly saddened. I thought that a demon such as yourself would have sought vengeance against the village that imprisoned you, instead you are here trying to protect that village and kill me."

"I hold the demon prisoner, it's true, but he is my family just as those I'm with are my family. As long as I continue to protect them I will be stronger than you can ever imagine," said Naruto as a second enormous burst of Chakra poured out of him changing him even more. His bones began cracking and changing shape making him more fox-like. From his lower back bubbled out a single glowing red tail followed quickly by three more tails each one giving him an enormous boost of power pushing his body to it's very limits. "And now, you'll find out just how much of a demon I really am."

Orochimaru was used to fear. He instilled it in every one of his subjects. Shinobi everywhere feared him. And now, for the first time in a very long time he felt an intense fear welling up inside of him. Suddenly the Akatsuki's plans for the brat were making more and more sense to him.

"Foxes hunt snakes," said Naruto savagely. He knew that in his current state that he would have zero luck using any of his techniques unless they were purely chakra based and didn't require hand seals. Luckily that left Naruto with his two most powerful techniques.

Orochimaru didn't hesitate to bring out the 'Grass-Cutter'. "Snakes and foxes have never gotten along." Orochimaru then smiled sinisterly, "Why do you think I killed Kyubi's mate and child and made it look like Konoha did it?"

Naruto's eyes widened for an instant before he lost all sense. Kyubi burst through the gates and took control of Naruto.

"Keh he he heh," laughed Naruto as his body began massive and drastic changes. His hair grew long turning completely red at the roots. Side-burns of red grew down the sides of his face. The fangs in his mouth extended far beyond what his mouth should have been capable of holding. His bones elongated making him much taller and the muscles in his body enlarged and became much tighter and strained by appearance. The final change was when nine true tails burst out from Naruto's spine. Chakra so strong flowed off of Naruto as these changes took place that all fighting around him ceased instantly as the other could only watch in horror.

"Kyah ha ha ha ha ha," laughed out Naruto as the changes ended and the chakra faded into a well controlled aura. "So you were the one?" asked an unearthly voice that rang through with killer intent to the very core of the people there.

"What have you done foolish boy?" asked Orochimaru.

"Kyah ha ha ha ha, boy, is that what you call a demon as ancient as myself?" asked Naruto who was clearly no longer Naruto.

"Kyubi," whispered all the Konoha Nin and Orochimaru.

"I suppose it is a bit much," said Kyubi as he took in his new look, "It won't last long but I won't need long to deal with you."

"Kyubi, what happened?" asked Jiraiya, "What did you do to Naruto?"

"The boy is fine," said Kyubi with a grin, "Believe it or not, I'm no longer an enemy of Konoha. I haven't been for a long time but now . . ." Kyubi chuckled darkly, "We have a common enemy."

"What happened to him though?" asked Jiraiya worried for his student.

"I surrendered to the seal for this one opportunity to deal with the son of a bitch. You humans aren't the only ones capable of making deals with Shinigami," said Kyubi, "I'm sacrificing my life permanently for my chance at revenge against this filth. Naruto is simply enjoying the show from inside though I must say. You'd think he'd be a bit more grateful that I'd be gone forever, instead he's whining about me leaving him alone and all sorts of other mushy shit that I really don't care for."

Jiraiya and the other couldn't believe what they were hearing. Kyubi made a deal with a death god for this one chance to kill Orochimaru.

"I suggest you gather your comrades and clear out, it's going to get really messy," said Kyubi as he flexed his muscles and moved his new form to get used to it.

Jiraiya didn't think on it for even a second before he grabbed up Tsunade, Shizune, and Hinata and ran away with them as fast as he could. They weren't really up for resisting either except for Hinata.

"Now, it's just us, the fox, the snake-bitch and his littler snake-bitches," said Kyubi, "You have no idea how happy you've made me today." Kyubi ran through a few quick hands seals causing a large red dome to appear, "Just so you don't think you'll get out of here alive."

"Kimimaro, Kabuto, kill it quickly before it grows any stronger," said Orochimaru thinking quickly of a way out.

"The barrier goes underground as well so don't bother. For then next few hours, you three are my little play things," said Kyubi with a manic grin.

Kimimaro was never one to hesitate when given an order. He charged at Naruto with his cursed seal activated to its highest level despite the fact that it was rapidly shortening his life span.

Kimimaro didn't even make it within six feet as suddenly his entire bone armor was shattered and his limbs were all pierced. He never saw the movement as it happened so quickly.

"I will admit, these human bodies might be a bit weak but the versatility is quite nice," said Kyubi as he admired his handy work, "How I never though up a technique like Shunshin in my extremely long existence is beyond me. But I will give credit where credit is due. The havoc and destruction I could have caused with such a technique gives me chills down my spine. I suppose I shall just have to make due with you three."

Kimimaro was still alive though just barely.

"Don't you die on me yet, I'm not done with you," said Kyubi lifting Kimimaro with one of his tails before tossing him aside like a rag doll. "So, which of you is next?"

Kabuto attacked from under the ground hoping to get in close enough to cut the chakra to Kyubi's heart. Kabuto rose up from under the ground rapidly striking the heart instantly.

"Oh honestly, is that the only thing you know how to do?" asked Kyubi bored out of his mind, "You know, the might work if my chakra came from the heart? You must be stupid."

Kabuto looked puzzled, Naruto's body should have a need to move the Chakra through the heart.

"Naruto uses his heart to process his chakra, I am a source unto myself baka. The seal instantly converts my chakra for his use without need of the heart muscle. Not to mention that your technique is just plain sloppy. I could feel you moving under the ground as if you were creating an earthquake," said Kyubi enjoying thoroughly the look of absolute terror on Kabuto's face.

Kyubi looked over at Orochimaru, "Oh, and don't bother with some stupid Fuuin technique as my chakra is all in his system now and the seal is dead."

Kyubi looked at Kabuto again studying the bastard, "Hmm, old blood line limit, feeling hot yet?"

Kabuto looked startled when Kyubi said that.

"You should know that I'm the one that bestowed that particular blood limit to your family line when your ancestor assisted me so long ago. I suppose you've outgrown it now," said Kyubi before cutting his finger and the putting a gash on Kabuto's forehead and smearing a bit of his blood in it.

Kabuto suddenly dropped to the ground his skin turning bright red and beginning to smoke eventually igniting his hair and clothing on fire.

"I bet that hurts horribly huh? Having your blood limit forcibly burned out of your body," said Kyubi. "I bet it is just working its way through your system eating at your skin and hair working in deeper and deeper until it eventually burns through the nerves. Instantly cauterizing the wounds as they occur so you can't bleed out. Not a very pleasant way to die I imagine. Don't worry though, I'll make sure you feel all of it even if your nerves are gone." Kyubi then ran through a few seals before slamming his hand against Kabuto's burning forehead creating a glowing blue seal visible even through the flames that were very slowly working their way through his body.

"Ah, that felt good to do," said Kyubi with a deeply pleased sigh as he looked at the terrified Orochimaru, "Do you have any idea how good it feels to do this kind of shit again? You don't realize how much you miss the little things in life until you've been sealed inside a pure and innocent vessel . . ." Kyubi pause for an instant as if thinking, "Now there is an idea, I think I can finish sealing you up . . . . yeah, I like that idea. I think it's very fitting don't you. You murdered my family, tricked me into attacking a good village that had not deserved my wrath yet, caused me to get sealed within a child. But you know. I think I child is a bit too good for you to be sealed in. You just might corrupt the child. I have just the thing and I think you as an evil son of a bitch will really appreciate this." Kyubi then unfastened his belt and squatted down. "I will say this about ramen. It will give you some of the most satisfying shit's you'll ever take."

Orochimaru could only look on in horror at the Kyubi defecating in the midst of a battle. But worse than that, he wasn't liking what the Kyubi was suggesting. After a while the Kyubi stood again did up his pants again.

"Well, what do think Orochimaru? It's a work of art eh?" asked Kyubi admiring his steaming pile of shit.

Orochimaru chose not to say anything but only swallowed nervously.

"Well, come on now, what do you think Orochimaru? Isn't your prison fitting?" asked Kyubi admiring the pile once again. "You know, I've just had another idea, after I seal your soul inside this pile of shit, I think I'll make that Kimi-whatever-guy choke on it. Yeah, that'll do nicely. Now the only question left is how am I going to take out your soul? Do I take it one piece at time over the next several hours in as painful a manner as possible or do I make it quick and painless?"

Orochimaru wanted to fight back against the monster before him but was too paralyzed by fear to move. He knew instinctively that it was futile to try anything at this point. His ambition was destroyed the instant that he chose to go after Konoha.

"Right, slow and painful," said Kyubi as he sauntered over to Orochimaru forming several hand seals along the way. As he stepped up to Orochimaru he looked him in the eye and glared, "You took away my family, my only peace in this world. Now I will take everything thing away from you. Oh, and if you think death will be easier on you guess again. When you die, I'll pull what ever weight I have with the other realm lords to ensure that you and I get to spend some real quality time in the other realm together." Finally Kyubi kissed Orochimaru's forehead, "My farewell to you." Suddenly a bright red seal appeared on Orochimaru's forehead.

Orochimaru could only scream and writhe in pain on the ground a millimeter by millimeter his soul was forcibly ripped, torn, sliced, diced, and cut from his body and forced inside of a big pile of feces.

Kyubi though just sat and watched the show enjoying every moment of it sending a silent prayer to his lost loved ones telling them he'd be home soon enough and that he'd finally avenged them.

After several excruciating hours body that was once Orochimaru disintegrated into black ash signifying that he was truly gone. Kyubi stood with a satisfied smile as he walked to the no longer steaming pile of shit and scooped it up before saunter over to the barely breathing but fully conscious Kimimaro.

"How you like choking on the shit that your master has now become," said Kyubi as he wrenched the bone-user's mouth open and started forcing the fecal matter in. Kimimaro gagged several times but could not eject the wretched matter from his mouth. Soon enough he asphyxiated and died. "Kitsune Inferno!" cried out Kyubi incinerating everything within the dome including the dirt leaving no possible escape for anything alive within the dome other than himself.

When white hot fire died out the dome flickered out of existence with Kyubi walking out completely unharmed.

Kyubi sat down with a broad grin as he stared at his most recent work. Not as artistic as some of his past works but quite nice just the same. He only had one thing left to settle.

**BREAK**

Naruto could only watch from inside Kyubi's cage as the beast went to town on the three victims. Some of what he saw would give him nightmares for the rest of his days. Some of what he saw he took notes on to use in the future.

"Not bad work huh?" asked a voice from behind Naruto as the screen faded to black.

"You are one fucked up fox," said Naruto as he turned to face not the giant Kitsune but an image of his changed body while under Kyubi's complete control.

"Thank you," said Kyubi with a grin before he sobered and looked at Naruto seriously. "I really do need to thank you. You've done more for me than I could have hoped for despite all of the problems I've caused you. For that you will eternally have my and my clan's gratitude."

"Bah, it was nothing. I'm sure you would've done the same if the situation had been reversed," said Naruto.

Kyubi just gave Naruto a pointed look.

"Okay, so you definitely wouldn't have done the same. But I still owed you for everything you've done to keep me alive and mostly out of trouble," said Naruto.

Kyubi again gave him a pointed look.

"Alright, you were a pain in the ass and you were stingy as hell when I did need your help and if you did help you expected me to drop to my knees and praise you endlessly," said Naruto, "I was just trying to be nice you know."

"I know and I appreciate but I also hate bull shit," said Kyubi causing both him and Naruto to chuckle, "Fox shit is okay I suppose." Both Naruto and Kyubi laughed their asses off at that.

Naruto finally calmed down, "I'm going to miss having you around, even if you were a pain."

"Yeah, you will," said Kyubi with a smirk.

"Smart ass fur ball," said Naruto.

"Don't you forget it," said Kyubi.

"So what will happen now?" asked Naruto.

"I imagine the Shinigami will appear shortly to take me away. As for you, well, it's going to be interesting to watch from wherever I end up," said Kyubi.

"What about the changes to my body?" asked Naruto looking Kyubi up and down.

"You're not going to look like this for quite a few years. I expect you'll look like this when you're about twenty-five or thirty. In the mean time, take a look in the mirror."

"What mirror?" asked Naruto as once appeared next to him. He was still the same height as before Kyubi's emergence but his body did look a bit more sinewy and strong like Kyubi's. His hair was still vibrant blond but with the slightest hint of red at the roots. His whisker marks were a bit thicker but not too much. His eyes were still cerulean blue but now had vertical slits for pupils. His canines were sharper but rather short, almost normal length and his fingernails, while normal length were rather sharp.

"You'll learn to control the teeth and claws with time and practice. You'll never have the red eyes like mine. Soul of the Slaying demon should still work, but you'll be the demon this time and they will be at your mercy, try to make me proud with this one.

Naruto smiled a bit at his appearance. He looked cool. Sure, he'd freak out the entire village when they saw him but all told it couldn't be that bad. Then he noticed three tails twitching behind him.

"Yeah, the tails will take a while to get used to but you'll come to love them and they drive the ladies crazy. Trust me, Hinata will hardly be able to contain her enthusiasm once she get to pet them. Oh and be careful of that, until you get used to it your tails will be rather erogenous to touch from her," said Kyubi but then upon seeing the confused look on Naruto's face he explained further, "It will make you hornier that Ero-Sennin."

"I have tails now?" asked Naruto still confused.

"I know, I didn't think you rated a three tail already but I guess you've really earned it. You'll get more as you gain more power," said Kyubi, "And as much as you may not like this suggestion, get used to using Henge wherever you go. Most people don't react well to seeing half-demons."

"I'm a half-demon?" asked Naruto.

"You are now, sorry about that," said Kyubi this time he received a pointed look from Naruto, "Okay, so I'm not sorry but come on, admit it, you like the changes."

Naruto could only shrug. He did like the changes but it would take some getting used to.

"**Time has expired**," said a deep voice as a ghostly figure appeared next to them.

"That's my queue kid," said Kyubi with a smile.

Naruto impulsively gave Kyubi a quick hug, "Behave up there."

"Who says I'm going up to that stiff ass joint? Like I'd want to go somewhere so boring and bland? Give me nightmares, chaos, and torture any day of the week," said Kyubi.

Naruto snorted, "Go already." Kyubi and the Shinigami both faded out of existence leaving Naruto behind and alone.

"Well done son," echoed a voice through the empty halls that Naruto instinctively knew and smiled at closing his eyes happily. The breeze swept through the air as Naruto's eyes opened to see the giant crater before him and great sense of peace settled over him.

"Thank you dad," said Naruto before he stood and began his trek back to the village.

**BREAK**

"We shouldn't have just left them there like that," yelled an angry Hinata as she paced the room.

"Trust me, Kyubi and Naruto will both be fine," said Jiraiya, "I'm more worried about Orochimaru personally. He might have betrayed us but he was still once a friend. I hate to think what Kyubi might be doing to him.

"Trust me, you don't want to know. I had to watch," said an all too familiar voice from the door.

"Naruto-kun," shouted Hinata before she rushed him and kissed him with all she had taking him right to the floor.

Jiraiya quickly whipped out his note book and started making notes when suddenly the notebook was cut cleanly in half by a rather long red tail that originated with Naruto. "Ah, all my research," moaned the pervert forgetting the young couple that was testing their lung capacity.

"Are they able to breath that long?" whispered Shizune to Tsunade.

Tsunade though just smirk, "Longer. You remember being that young once don't you?"

Shizune just blushed a little as she thought back on a young silver-haired prodigy prior to his becoming a fan of Jiraiya's literature.

"As much as I hate to interrupt," said Tsunade finally after a long wait.

Naruto and Hinata finally broke only to both blush furiously.

"Is he dead?" asked Tsunade.

"Yeah, but since when do you care? I thought you didn't want to become Hokage?" asked Naruto.

"You won the bet didn't you?" asked Tsunade trying not to grin.

"I guess I did huh?" asked Naruto.

"That's all fine and good but what the hell happened to you?" asked Jiraiya as he studied the now standing Naruto.

"Kyubi moved on. He got his revenge on the one responsible for killing his mate and child."

"Okay, but you still look all foxed out," said Jiraiya.

"Departing gift cause by Kyubi's deal with the Shinigami," explained Naruto, "I am now part demon." Naruto then laid out all the details of what Kyubi told him of the changes.

"He's right, you'd better start using a Henge to hide your appearance for all but your closest friends and allies," said Jiraiya.

"No," said Tsunade, "Henge can be seen through. He'll need something a bit stronger. I'll teach him my technique."

Jiraiya raised a surprised eyebrow. Tsunade refuse to teach her technique to anyone . . . ever.

"I think he needs it so don't you dare look at me like that," said Tsunade sourly.

"Great, now get out of our room," said Hinata wanting her fox-boy all to herself.

Jiraiya get a perverted looked on his face before he felt something soft and furry wrap around his ankle and toss him out the open window.

Naruto looked at Tsunade and Shizune who both just shook their heads and laughed before walking out.

As soon as the door closed Hinata pounced on her Naruto-kun afraid of ever letting him out of her sight again.


End file.
